Reed's Candy

Reed's candy was produced in the United States for over 100 years.[1] The Reed's Candy Company is an American producer of confectionery, which was started by William and Eugene Reed of Chicago. Together with their father, they founded the company in 1893 for the production and sale of butterscotch candies.[2]

Reed's candy ad from 1968

They expanded the candy line with their top selling product, the hard candy roll. The cooking process consisted of using copper kettles to boil butter, corn syrup and other ingredients to create an individually hard finished candy. Machinery was custom made to allow the product to go from the cooking phase directly into packaging. The pieces were packaged eight to a roll, with a cellophane button-wrapper to protect freshness.[2]

By 1921, the firm had become the largest manufacturer of butterscotch candy in the United States.[2] Other flavors included peppermint, root beer, licorice, cinnamon, spearmint, butter rum, and teaberry.[2][3] Lorillard Company purchased Reed's Candy in 1962, and operated it as a subsidiary. When Lorillard was bought by Loews Theatres, Inc several years later, Reed's Candy became a subsidiary of Loews. In February 1972, Loews Corporation decided to concentrate only in the entertainment industry, and sold Reed's to H.P. Hood, Inc.[2] Reed's acquired Clark Gum in 1973.

Reed Candy's Chicago plant after it closed, April 1985. Note Reed sign near the entrance facing Fletcher Street, railroad tracks in foreground in Lakewood Avenue used by Milwaukee Road to deliver corn syrup and sugar to Reed before this plant closed.

In 1981, H.P. Hood divested themselves of Reed's, which filed for bankruptcy the next year and shut down, but production restarted in 1983, when they were purchased by the company's former president and chairman at the company.[1] In the 1980s, they had their gum production outsourced in a co-packing arrangement with Amurol Products, a subsidiary of Wrigley Gum.[2] Amurol bought Reed's (but not Clark) in 1989,[4] and they discontinued production in 2006.

Iconic Candy Company of New York, a Successor in interest of Reed Candy Company of Chicago, IL, is currently producing four original Reed's candy rolls in Butterscotch, Root Beer, Cinnamon, and Peppermint flavors. They also produce 4 oz bags of individually wrapped hard candies in cinnamon, butterscotch, and root beer flavors.[2]