Marinus van Dam
Encyclopedia
Marinus van Dam was one of the first employees at The Herman Goelitz Candy Company.
Marinus van Dam was born in Ooltgensplaat, a township in Oostflakkee
, Netherlands
. He immigrated to the United States after obtaining a candy manufacturing degree in the Netherlands and soon went to work for the Herman Goelitz candy company after arriving in the United States
. He rose to the level of vice president before moving on to other companies and finally starting his own business Marich Confectionery
.
When Marinus was asked how he developed the manufacturing of the Jelly Belly, he answered that most jelly beans at the time were cheap candy that had a 56% sugar content and were sold as penny candy. All jelly beans started out with plain, uncolored starch centers that were merely sweetened with sugar. Only the outer candy coating was colored and flavored. He wondered how he could bring this candy to the adult market, and his solution was to enhance the jelly beans so that they would appeal to everyone. The centers for the new jelly bean were colored and flavored with real fruit juices and natural flavors. This flavor enhancing process was also used on the outer candy shell. The finished Jelly Belly contained about half the sugar of the regular jelly bean, was more flavorful, and consequently healthier than the generic jelly beans sold in stores. David Klein sold the first Jelly Belly jelly beans in a small ice cream parlor in Alhambra, California
in 1976. The first flavors were Very Cherry, Tangerine, Lemon, Green Apple, Grape, Licorice, Root Beer, and Cream Soda. Marinus died on January 6, 1997, but the candy he helped create continues.
Marinus van Dam was born in Ooltgensplaat, a township in Oostflakkee
Oostflakkee
Oostflakkee is a municipality on the island of Goeree-Overflakkee in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. He immigrated to the United States after obtaining a candy manufacturing degree in the Netherlands and soon went to work for the Herman Goelitz candy company after arriving in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He rose to the level of vice president before moving on to other companies and finally starting his own business Marich Confectionery
Marich Confectionery
Marich Confectionery was founded in 1983 by Richard Shaffer and Marinus van Dam, creator of the Jelly Belly. At age 15, with his father in a concentration camp for Dutch resistance during World War II, Marinus started to work as a janitor in a candy factory in Rotterdam to help support his family...
.
When Marinus was asked how he developed the manufacturing of the Jelly Belly, he answered that most jelly beans at the time were cheap candy that had a 56% sugar content and were sold as penny candy. All jelly beans started out with plain, uncolored starch centers that were merely sweetened with sugar. Only the outer candy coating was colored and flavored. He wondered how he could bring this candy to the adult market, and his solution was to enhance the jelly beans so that they would appeal to everyone. The centers for the new jelly bean were colored and flavored with real fruit juices and natural flavors. This flavor enhancing process was also used on the outer candy shell. The finished Jelly Belly contained about half the sugar of the regular jelly bean, was more flavorful, and consequently healthier than the generic jelly beans sold in stores. David Klein sold the first Jelly Belly jelly beans in a small ice cream parlor in Alhambra, California
Alhambra, California
Alhambra is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, which is approximately eight miles from the Downtown Los Angeles civic center. As of the 2010 census, the population was 83,089, down from 85,804 at the 2000 census. The city's...
in 1976. The first flavors were Very Cherry, Tangerine, Lemon, Green Apple, Grape, Licorice, Root Beer, and Cream Soda. Marinus died on January 6, 1997, but the candy he helped create continues.