Jelly Belly Factory

For awhile now, I have wanted to go on the JELLY BELLY FACTORY TOUR, but not just on any day, but the days when they are open and operating so that I could experience the full magic of the jelly belly process. The factory doesn't operate on weekends or some holidays, but fortunately, I found out that they were open on Martin Luther King Day! I invited several couples from our ward and had 2 excited replies from the Falk's and the Murdock's. Sadly, the morning of the outing, William woke up with a horrible ear infection and so he was in no mood to drive 3 hours round trip so he stayed behind and got medicine from the doctor. While he was greatly missed, it was nice to be able to be in one car because I heard some of the most entertaining stories ever. Everything from car wrecks and strange towing, to traffic court, warrants for an individual who will remain nameless arrest, a guy falling of Mount Sinai, mission experiences, the mafia- to name just a few of the "highlights". It was great times in the car . . . and even better when we arrived at the factory!

And they even had a "welcome wagon" out to greet us.

Since it was a holiday, it was fairly crowded but we only waited in line for about 15 minutes. After we left, the line was super long, so go in the morning! Here was the view as we waited in line of hanging jelly bellies. And we even got a free sample of strawberry cheesecake from an amazing scooper that administered 1 jelly belly per person.

They had a jelly belly mosaic on display- they told us later on the tour that one this size contains about 10,000 jelly bellies and 6 months to make. There's a sign at the bottom that warns against not eating the art, and I definitely wouldn't after finding out that they are dipped in a special glue to hold it together. I think if they put that on the sign, most people wouldn't eat it.

It was mandatory for us to wear their signature paper hat on the tour- I definitely think that it is much more flattering on Alecia

Here's a side profile view of the hats with the jelly belly logo on them.

Even the CARPET was covered in jelly bellies.

Unfortunately, photographs were not allowed on the tour- major bummer. But, I will describe some of what I experienced. I'm so glad that I went on a working day because it was so crazy to see the sheer number of the jelly bellies being processed. Every day, they use 53,000 lbs of sugar and it takes 7-10 days to make an actual jelly belly that you get from the store. I had no idea it was such a complex process. They first make the jelly part which is 1/3rd smaller than what you get from the store. They use real fruit and other flavors as their base. (On a disgusting note, they told us what flavors they put into their "vomit" jelly belly- pepperoni pizza, Parmesan cheese (for just the right chunkiness) and citric acid). I'm happy to say that I have NEVER had one and NEVER will have one- some experiences I definitely do not need to "recreate" in a jelly bean. Then, the beans "cure" for a few days just sitting. They are then taken to the giant kettles where they receive their coating of alternating scoops of white sugar and corn syrup. After this, they are then placed on drying racks for another 3 days before they are polished in the same fashion as stones, being placed inside a rolling bin. There are quality control people who check through out the process to make sure the taste of each batch is right and that they have the right "look". The ones that are stuck together or badly mishapped are called "Belly Flops" and you can buy them for a reduced rate. I'm impressed that they have a machine that writes the little jelly belly logo on them. They produce 35,000 jelly bellies DAILY. As one of our group members said, here's the way to fight world hunger!

What I particularly liked was that they gave you a FREE bag of jelly bellies as a THANK-YOU for going on the tour! And, in the gift shop, you could try whatever kinds you wanted, such as their smoothie mix or jalepeno, black pepper, or their "new" flavor- BABY WIPE. NASTY. Needless to say, I only sampled the smoothie mix. I was proud of myself for only buying 1/4 pound of my own custom blend in addition to my free bag. What is even more amazing, is that I still have some of both bags left!

We were the only group that we saw on the tour without children, but we went with no shame because it was so cool! I definitely recommend it, but I think it would be kind of a let down without the machines working, so find out before you call.

But, our day wouldn't have been complete with out a THANK-YOU to Dr. Martin Luther King for giving us this holiday and what better tribute can you have than a Jelly Belly Mosaic of you.