"jelly beans" news and stories

Seems Kate Middleton is having a Willy Wonka moment. Her image has turned into a Golden Ticket for a Somerset, England, man who claims he's not only spotted the soon-to-be Princess of Wales on a jelly bean, but he's selling the Kate-like Kandy on eBay!

When Wesley Hosie opened his jar of Jelly Bean Factory sweets, one mango-flavored bean stood out, he told The Telegraph. The speckles on the candy's surface had formed a pattern that created an image of Kate Middleton, flowing hair, Mona Lisa smile, and all. "She was literally lying there staring back at me," he told the paper. (Question: Wesley, what were you drinking with those jelly beans?)

Another man would have just popped the Kate-like candy in his mouth and gone back to watching the cricket match. But not Mr. Hosie, who has decided to take the jelly bean to the world, through eBay, where the starting bid will be 500 pounds sterling (about $800 and change). Next up, a Prince William chocolate bar?

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]

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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Hershey isn't the only one buying up candymakers this week. Jelly Belly has also bought Los Angles-based Ben Myerson Candy Co., makers of Christopher's Candy and Sunkist fruit gems. Now, when I think of Jelly Belly I think entirely of jelly beans -- though the company says that they make "over 100 different candies including chocolates, gummies, candy corn, taffy, and... jelly beans" I couldn't name another candy brand they produce. (Perhaps a down-side of having a jelly bean for their corporate logo.) This purchase, however, will provide them with some new candy types to think of when the name "Jelly Belly" comes up.

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