Just Born
{{Short description|American candy company}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = February 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Just Born, Inc.
| image = Just Born building, Bethlehem, PA.jpg
| logo = Justborn.png
| type = {{flat list|
}}
| foundation = {{Start date and age|1923}} in New York City, New York, United States
| founder = Sam Born
| location_city = 1300 Stefko Boulevard, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
| location_country = United States
| locations =
| area_served = United States
| key_people = David Shaffer (Chairman & Co-CEO)
Gardner Jett, Jr. (Co-CEO)
| industry = Confectionery production
| products = Candies
| services =
| market cap =
| revenue = US$301 million (2021)
| operating_income =
| net_income =
| assets =
| equity =
| owner = Shaffer family
| num_employees = 600 (2021)
| parent =
| divisions =
| subsid =
| homepage = {{url|https://www.justborn.com/}}
| footnotes =
| intl =
}}
Just Born, Inc., is an American family-owned confectionery company based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.{{cite web
| title = Reviving Two Characters by Tearing Them Apart
| work = The New York Times
| author = Andrew Adam Newman
| date = April 11, 2012
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/12/business/media/mike-and-ike-campaign-concocts-a-dispute.html?_r=0}} It manufactures and markets a number of confectionery, including Goldenberg's Peanut Chews, Hot Tamales, Mike and Ike, Peeps, Teenee Beanee jelly beans, and Zours.
Advertising its products with the slogan "a great candy isn't made{{nbsp}}... it's Just Born," the company was ranked as the 10th largest candy company in the United States, as of 2013.{{cite web
| title = Bethlehem's Just Born Quality Confections celebrates 90 years of candy making
| publisher = Lehigh Valley Live
| author = Nadia Marblestone
| date = August 12, 2013
| url = http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/food/index.ssf/2013/08/bethlehems_just_born_quality_c.html}}
History
Russian-Jewish immigrant Sam Born (1891–1959) came to the United States in December 1909. He moved to San Francisco, where, in 1916, Born was awarded the "key to the city" of San Francisco for inventing the Born Sucker Machine, a machine that mechanically inserted sticks into lollipops.{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Andrew F. |title=Fast Food and Junk Food: An Encyclopedia of What We Love to Eat |date=2012 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-39393-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7-WcKK01H1cC&dq=%22Born+Sucker+Machine%22&pg=PA665 |language=en |quote=He moved to San Francisco, where he invented the Born Sucker Machine. He subsequently launched Just Born, a candy company that is today headquartered in ...}}{{cite web |title=Sam Born: Inducted into the Candy Hall of Fame in 2006 |url=http://candyhalloffame.org/CHoF/inductees/2006/sam-born.shtml |website=NCSA National Confectionary Sales Association: Candy Hall of Fame Inductees |access-date=28 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170415100546/http://candyhalloffame.org/CHoF/inductees/2006/sam-born.shtml |archive-date=15 April 2017}}{{cite news |last1=Severson |first1=Kim |title=Peeps Rule Roost / Easter's unofficial marshmallow treat now a chic and easy target to spoof |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Peeps-Rule-Roost-Easter-s-unofficial-2938583.php |access-date=28 February 2023 |work=SFGATE |date=3 April 1999 |quote=In 1916, Sam Born, whose son would later develop a way to mass-produce Peeps and whose name the company bears, was given a key to the city of San Francisco.}}{{cite news |last1=Blitz |first1=Matt |title=The History of Peeps |url=https://www.foodandwine.com/news/history-peeps |access-date=28 February 2023 |work=Food & Wine |date=May 24, 2017 |language=en |quote=In 1910, 19-year-old Russian Jewish immigrant Sam Born landed in New York....what he and his family did in Europe, which was making chocolate....}}
In 1917, Born started a small retail store in Brooklyn, New York. He displayed in his store window an evolving line of daily-made candy, advertising its freshness with a sign that declared Just Born. The original company symbol showed a baby resting in a candy measuring scale. Sam Born is also credited{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}} with the invention of chocolate sprinkles, known as "jimmies," and the hard coating on ice cream bars.
In 1923, Born started his own manufacturing company in New York City.{{cite web |title=Our History |url=https://www.justborn.com/who-we-are/our-history/ |website=Just Born |access-date=28 February 2023 |date=10 May 2019}} Irv and Jack Shaffer, Born's brothers-in-law, joined the company to help market and sell the confections. In 1932,{{cite web
| title = You know you're from the Lehigh Valley if you ever had Peeps in your Easter basket
| publisher = The Morning Call, Lehigh Valley
| author = Dan Sheehan
| date = October 14, 2015
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/12/business/media/mike-and-ike-campaign-concocts-a-dispute.html?_r=0}} the trio relocated operations to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The company bought a four-story, 224,396 sq. ft. building, built during 1920, from a bankrupt printing company.{{cite news |title=Just Born Inc. has legacy of sweet Peeps and good jobs |url=https://www.mcall.com/2001/04/01/just-born-inc-has-legacy-of-sweet-peeps-and-good-jobs/ |access-date=28 February 2023 |work=The Morning Call |date=1 April 2001 |location=Allentown, Pennsylvania}}
Sam Born's son, Bob Born, joined the company in 1945, and would later become the company's president for more than 30 years. He was part of the two-man team that mechanized the process forming Peeps, allowing a substantial increase of production, causing Just Born to become America's largest manufacturer of seasonal marshmallow confections. Bob Born died at age 98 on January 29, 2023.{{cite news|date=January 31, 2023
|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/31/business/peeps-bob-born-death/index.html|title=Bob Born, the 'Father of Peeps,' has died|work=CNN Business |access-date=February 4, 2023}}{{cite news|date=February 5, 2023|url=https://nyti.ms/3lbWRk9|title=Bob Born, Who Brought Marshmallow Peeps to the Masses, Dies at 98|access-date=February 5, 2023}}
In 1953, the company acquired Rodda Candy Co. of Lancaster County;{{cite web
| title = Company Is Making More Than a Peep in the Candy Industry
| publisher = Bill Bergstrom
| author = Andrew Adam Newman
| date = October 11, 1999
| url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-oct-11-fi-21120-story.html}} a manufacturer of jelly beans, as well as a seasonal (Easter) marshmallow candy: Peeps. Just Born later mechanized the product manufacture and eventually generalized its advertising for year-round sales.
In 2003, the company purchased the Goldenberg Candy Company, retaining its Philadelphia factory. Just Born originally re-branded Goldenberg's Peanut Chews as a Just Born product, deleting references to the name Goldenberg, which the company later restored.{{cite web
| title = After Failed Identity Change, Peanut Chews Reclaims Its Goldenberg's Roots
| work = The New York Times
| author = Andrew Adam Newman
| date = August 19, 2012
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/20/business/media/for-goldenbergs-peanut-chews-change-was-not-good.html?_r=0}}
Union and pension disputes
On September 2, 2016, members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union Local 6 voted to strike on Sept. 7 after unanimously rejecting the company's most recent contract offer. Most workers resumed their jobs on September 30, although no final agreement had been made.{{cite web|url=http://www.mcall.com/business/mc-biz-just-born-peeps-robotics-20180321-story.html|title=Watch robots snatch up Just Born's Peeps without squishing them|first=Anthony|last=Salamone|date=29 March 2018 |publisher=}}{{cite news |last=Salamone |first=Anthony |url= http://www.mcall.com/business/mc-just-born-union-workers-to-return-20160929-story.html |title=Just Born workers returning to their jobs today |work=The Morning Call |date=2016-09-30 |accessdate=2016-10-05}}
At the basis of the dispute is the company's attempt to withdraw future employees from a multi-employer pension fund named the Bakery and Confectionery Union and Industrial International Pension Fund.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/03/29/feature/trouble-in-candy-land-how-peeps-pensions-and-a-lawsuit-threaten-to-upend-the-american-retirement-system/|title=Trouble in candy land: How Peeps, pensions and a lawsuit threaten to upend the American retirement system|newspaper=Washington Post}}{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/peeps-candy-workers-win-strike-case-against-just-born/|title=Peeps candy workers win strike case against Just Born|website=CBS News |date=January 4, 2018 |publisher=}} Such a withdrawal requires the employer to pay a US$60 million withdrawal fee (to fund future retirees), which Just Born has gone to court to avoid paying.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{official|http://www.justborn.com}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20180805013919/http://powerofthepeep.com/ Peeps documentary]
- [https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/just-born-inc Just Born] - encyclopedia.com
{{Just Born}}
Category:Chocolate companies based in Pennsylvania
Category:Companies based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Category:American companies established in 1923
Category:Confectionery companies of the United States
Category:1923 establishments in Pennsylvania
Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1923