"JellyBelly" news and stories

A few of the best stories spied elsewhere on the Web this week:

Much to the dismay of the meat industry, the Baltimore Public School System has instituted Meatless Mondays on the lunch line in an effort to reduce students' intake of cholesterol and saturated fats.

See which chefs are running the New York City Marathon this Sunday and what they'll be dining on afterwards.

Building on the success of "Top Chef," Bravo plans to launch "Top Chef: Just Desserts," a competitive show for pastry chefs. They have yet to release the planned panel of judges or the host.

Jelly Belly announced a new line of beverages called Jelly Belly Gourmet Soda to be sold in 4-packs in popular jelly-bean flavors Sour Cherry, Lemon Drop, Crushed Pineapple and Blueberry.

Still looking for Halloween costume inspiration? Check out this slideshow of celeb chefs and dress accordingly -- will you choose tattooed arms or the traditional chef's coat?

As a kid, I didn't really care too much for jelly beans. The obligatory jelly beans in my Easter basket every year were some of the last candy eaten, and only because, as a kid, I just couldn't let any candy go to waste. I was initially skeptical of Jelly Belly's because of my childhood aversion to jelly beans: I just didn't think anything classified as a jelly bean could be good. Boy, was I wrong, and I'm glad someone convinced me to give them a try.

Now, you can help Jelly Belly decide on their next flavor jelly bean. Out of thousands of entries, Jelly Belly has the choices whittled down to five. The person who contributed the winning bean flavor gets $10, 000, but sadly the voters only get the satisfaction of voting. Fortunately for me that's pretty good in my book. You have five choices, all of which sound interesting, and you have until August 31 to vote. I think I'm going for the sublime chili lime, or maybe the Thai iced tea. What flavor do you think should win?

[Via Candy Addict]

Despite the recession, people are buying Jelly Bellys like never before, reports the New York Times. Why? Because they blow other jelly beans out of the water in terms of taste, consumers say. And, as we've already seen, consumers are loathe to give up their little treats in the middle of stressful financial times.

While other candy companies are experiencing flat sales, the Jelly Belly Candy Company is producing 300,000 pounds of beans a day and rising. Sales are up 25 percent since 2006, for a total of $160 million a year. The company continues to expand its reach, with niche products like the "every flavor beans" from Harry Potter (try the dirt, stay away from the ear wax), the JBz, which are like flavored M&Ms, and electrolyte-infused sports beans.

Some marketers wonder if Jelly Bellys increased availability in stores like Wal-Mart will kill their appeal with higher end consumers (I remember when the only place I could find them was at a gourmet store). I personally doubt that any amount of snobbery will keep people away from their chocolate pudding- and cinnamon-flavored treats.

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Dubbed "lollipops for the new generation" by the company, Jelly Belly's LolliBeans are one of the company's newest products and were promoted at the SF Fancy Foods Show along with their new pomegranate jelly beans. Lollipops are hardly innovative, as far as candy goes, but the company seems surprisingly excited about these pops. Each one is shaped like a very large (over 1 inch long) jelly bean and is embossed with the famous Jelly Belly logo, and 10 flavors - very cherry, watermelon, sizzling cinnamon, strawberry cheesecake, cotton candy, blueberry, tangerine, bubblegum, grape and lemon - all of which are as true-to-life as the original Jelly Bellys are.

Perhaps if I had picked up a Strawberry Cheesecake pop instead of a lemon I would have been more impressed, but this was simply a good - not fantastic - piece of candy.

The Lollibeans are available at candy and gourmet stores nationwide and will probably be more widely available as we head into Easter.

There are three ways to eat Jelly Bellys: one by one, in random handfuls or paired up in specific combinations. If you regularly take the last option, you know that every box and bag of Jelly Bellys comes with a selection of recipes that combine the standard bean flavors into much more complex ones, miniature versions of favorite desserts. Some examples include Banana Split (Top Banana + Chocolate Pudding + Crushed Pineapple + Strawberry Jam + Very Cherry + A&W Cream Soda), Chocolate Covered Cherries ( 2 Very Cherry + 1 Chocolate Pudding ) and Blueberry Muffins (2 Blueberry + 1 Buttered Popcorn). To expand their recipe selections, Jelly Belly is turning to consumers, fans of Jelly Bellys, for some new ideas.

Jelly Belly is launching the Jelly Belly Recipe Game on January 22nd with the intention of finding the next great jelly bean recipe. The contest invites participants to come up with creative new combinations of Jelly Bellys for the chance to win $10,000 or one of 100,000 other prizes. Entries can be submitted on the game website, which will not be active until the 22nd.

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