Russell Stover Candies
{{Short description|Candy manufacturer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Russell Stover Chocolates
| genre =
| foundation = {{start date and age|1923}}
Denver, Colorado, U.S.
| founders = Russell William Stover
Clara Stover
| location_city = Kansas City, Missouri
| location_country = U.S.
| locations = Manufacturing – Iola, Kansas; Abilene, Kansas; Corsicana, Texas
| area_served =
| key_people =
| industry = Chocolate confections
| products = Chocolate Confections
| services =
| market cap =
| revenue =
| operating_income =
| net_income =
| assets =
| equity =
| owner = Lindt & Sprüngli
| num_employees =
| parent = Lindt & Sprüngli
| divisions =
| subsid = Whitman's and Pangburn's Chocolates
| homepage = {{URL|http://www.russellstover.com/}}
| footnotes =
| intl =
}}
File:Christian Kent Nelson.jpg inventor Christian Kent Nelson, who partnered with Russell Stover to develop the product]]
Russell Stover Chocolates, Inc. is an American manufacturer of candy, chocolate, and confections. Founded by Russell Stover, an American chemist and entrepreneur, and his wife Clara Stover in 1923, it is an independent subsidiary of Swiss chocolatier Lindt & Sprüngli. The Kansas City, Missouri-based company was acquired from the Ward family in July 2014 for $1.6 billion.{{cite web|url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/07/14/swiss-chocolate-maker-lindt-says-its-buying-russell-stover-candies/|title=Swiss Chocolate Maker Lindt Will Buy Russell Stover Candies|first=Chad|last=Bray|website=DealBook|date=July 14, 2014|accessdate=June 12, 2017|archive-date=October 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006062525/https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/07/14/swiss-chocolate-maker-lindt-says-its-buying-russell-stover-candies/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Davis|first=Mark|date=March 10, 2015|title=Lindt & Sprüngli paid $1.6 billion for Russell Stover|work=The Kansas City Star |url= https://www.kansascity.com/news/business/article13252067.html |access-date=August 21, 2021 |archive-date=August 22, 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210822023458/https://www.kansascity.com/news/business/article13252067.html |url-status=live}}{{subscription required}}
History
In 1921, Russell Stover and his partner at the time, Eskimo Pie inventor Iowa schoolteacher Christian Kent Nelson, created a chocolate-dipped ice cream sandwich. The product proved successful, and was licensed to manufacturers to produce it.{{cite web|last1=Duan|first1=Charles|title=Ice Cream Patent Headache|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2015/10/what_the_history_of_eskimo_pies_says_about_software_patents_today.html|website=Slate|access-date=October 26, 2017|date=October 20, 2015|archive-date=July 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718151049/http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2015/10/what_the_history_of_eskimo_pies_says_about_software_patents_today.html|url-status=live}}
When other companies{{which|date=August 2021}} soon began to release similar chocolate-dipped ice cream products, Russell Stover was nearly forced out of business.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} The Stovers sold their share of the company for $25,000 and moved to Denver, Colorado.{{when|date=August 2021}} In 1923, Russell and Clara created a new company from their home, Mrs. Stover's Bungalow Candies, which packaged and sold boxed chocolates. In 1943 it was renamed Russell Stover Candies.{{cite web|url=http://www.russellstover.com/rsc-timeline|title=Russell Stover Chocolates Timeline – Russell Stover Chocolates|website=www.russellstover.com|accessdate=June 12, 2017|archive-date=June 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606180851/https://www.russellstover.com/rsc-timeline|url-status=live}}
= Expansion =
Louis Ward and a partner bought the company for $7.5 million in 1960. He served as the company's chairman and president until 1993, when he retired after suffering a stroke. His sons, Scott H. and Thomas Ward, took over the business.{{Cite news|last=Freudenheim|first=Milt|date=February 13, 1996|title=Louis Ward, 76, Manufacturer Built Fortune in Candy Business|language=en-US|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/13/business/louis-ward-76-manufacturer-built-fortune-in-candy-business.html|access-date=September 25, 2021|issn=0362-4331|url-access=limited|archive-date=February 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212174330/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/13/business/louis-ward-76-manufacturer-built-fortune-in-candy-business.html|url-status=live}} The company expanded its chocolate brands by acquiring Whitman's that year and Pangburn's in 1999.{{cite web|url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/brands-that-i-love/|title=Brands That I Love|work=Texas Monthly |date=March 1, 2003|publisher=|accessdate=June 12, 2017|archive-date=February 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215121335/http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/brands-that-i-love/|url-status=live |last1=Dingus |first1=Anne }}
= Acquisition by Lindt & Sprüngli and restructuring =
Swiss chocolate maker Lindt bought Russell Stover Chocolates from the Ward family on July 14, 2014.{{cite web|url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/07/14/swiss-chocolate-maker-lindt-says-its-buying-russell-stover-candies/|title=Swiss Chocolate Maker Lindt Will Buy Russell Stover Candies|first=Chad|last=Bray|website=DealBook|date=July 14, 2014|accessdate=June 12, 2017|archive-date=October 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006062525/https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/07/14/swiss-chocolate-maker-lindt-says-its-buying-russell-stover-candies/|url-status=live}} Integrating Russell Stover Chocolates into Lindt group resulted in a structural reorganization of the company; this included tripling its marketing team and shifting focus away from seasonal products.{{Cite web|title=Russell Stover: How the chocolate company is evolving since being bought by Lindt|url=https://www.candyindustry.com/articles/87271-russell-stover-how-the-chocolate-company-is-evolving-since-being-bought-by-lindt?v=preview|access-date=September 25, 2021|website=www.candyindustry.com|language=en|last=Pacyniak|first=Bernie|archive-date=September 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925032543/https://www.candyindustry.com/articles/87271-russell-stover-how-the-chocolate-company-is-evolving-since-being-bought-by-lindt?v=preview|url-status=live}}
Attention was also given to developing its offering of sugar-free products. Stevia, a natural sweetener, replaced the artificial sweetener sucralose by 2019, and the packaging was redesigned to attract a wider audience, hoping to reverse a three-year trend of declining sales.{{Cite web|last=Shoup|first=Mary Ellen|title=Russell Stover corrects 'brand communication problem', brings sales growth to sugar-free chocolate product|url=https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2019/04/12/Russell-Stover-transforms-image-of-its-sugar-free-chocolate-line|access-date=September 25, 2021|website=foodnavigator-usa.com|date=April 12, 2019 |language=en-GB|archive-date=June 25, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625021930/https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2019/04/12/Russell-Stover-transforms-image-of-its-sugar-free-chocolate-line|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|date=March 24, 2019|title=Russell Stover redesign reverses three-year sales decline|url=https://www.packworld.com/design/flexible-packaging/article/13377276/russell-stover-redesign-reverses-threeyear-sales-decline|access-date=September 25, 2021|website=Packaging World|language=en-us|last=Mohan|first=Anne Marie|archive-date=September 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925034029/https://www.packworld.com/design/flexible-packaging/article/13377276/russell-stover-redesign-reverses-threeyear-sales-decline|url-status=live}} In 2020, Russell Stover Chocolates was the top sugar-free chocolate company in the United States.{{Cite web|title=2020 State of the Confectionery Industry: Better-for-you, sugar-free entice consumers amid COVID-19|url=https://www.candyindustry.com/articles/89235-state-of-the-confectionery-industry-better-for-you-sugar-free-entices-consumersamid-covid-19?v=preview|access-date=September 25, 2021|website=www.candyindustry.com|language=en|last=Lindell|first=Crystal|archive-date=September 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925032548/https://www.candyindustry.com/articles/89235-state-of-the-confectionery-industry-better-for-you-sugar-free-entices-consumersamid-covid-19?v=preview|url-status=live}}
Spurred by strong sales in 2019, Russell Stover Chocolates announced plans to expand its Iola, Kansas, Abilene, Kansas, and Corsicana, Texas facilities. It also announced that its facility in Montrose, Colorado and several retail stores and distribution centers across the US would close in 2021.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2020/01/14/russell-stover-chocolates-expansion-hiring-cuts.html|access-date=August 22, 2021|website=www.bizjournals.com|publisher=American City Business Journals|title=Russell Stover's new box of chocolates: expansion, hiring, job cuts|last=Collins|first=Leslie|date=January 14, 2020|archive-date=April 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424163319/https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2020/01/14/russell-stover-chocolates-expansion-hiring-cuts.html|url-status=live}}
= 2020–present =
The company was among those that participated in a July 2020 virtual job fair hosted by the Kansas public workforce program, designed to allow jobseekers impacted by the COVID pandemic to find employment while still practicing social distancing measures.{{Cite web|last=Motter|first=Sarah|title=KANSASWORKS Job Fair connects Kansans with jobs despite COVID-19 pandemic|date=July 3, 2020 |url=https://www.wibw.com/2020/07/03/kansasworks-job-fair-connects-kansans-with-jobs-despite-covid-19-pandemic/|access-date=October 21, 2021|language=en|archive-date=October 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021034331/https://www.wibw.com/2020/07/03/kansasworks-job-fair-connects-kansans-with-jobs-despite-covid-19-pandemic/|url-status=live}}
In September 2020 the company laid off 300 employees, due to the effects of the pandemic.{{Cite web|first=Aldo|last=Svaldi|date=June 3, 2020|title=Russell Stover will close its Montrose plant ahead of schedule due to COVID-19|url=https://www.denverpost.com/2020/06/03/russell-stover-montrose-pant-closing/|access-date=September 25, 2021|newspaper=The Denver Post|language=en-US|archive-date=September 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925013137/https://www.denverpost.com/2020/06/03/russell-stover-montrose-pant-closing/|url-status=live}} The closure of the Montrose plant eliminated around 300 jobs.{{Cite web|last=Tubbs|first=Justin|title=Sale finalized on former Russell Stover candy shop; future of property in the air|url=https://www.montrosepress.com/free_access/sale-finalized-on-former-russell-stover-candy-shop-future-of-property-in-the-air/article_c5db811c-a7a4-11eb-85f2-f7a1e581b506.html|access-date=September 25, 2021|newspaper=Montrose Daily Press|date=April 27, 2021 |language=en|archive-date=September 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925014213/https://www.montrosepress.com/free_access/sale-finalized-on-former-russell-stover-candy-shop-future-of-property-in-the-air/article_c5db811c-a7a4-11eb-85f2-f7a1e581b506.html|url-status=live}}
In April 2021, Russell Stover entered an agreement with Topeka Correctional Facility to form a work release program, hiring 150 inmates to work at their Iola and Abilene facilities in Kansas. This happened as part of a general response from US employers to a perceived labor shortage related to the pandemic.{{Cite web|date=July 20, 2021|title=Companies claim there's a labor shortage. Their solution? Prisoners|url=http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/20/companies-claim-theres-a-labor-shortage-their-solution-prisoners|access-date=September 25, 2021|website=The Guardian.com|language=en|last=Sainato|first=Michael|archive-date=September 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925023403/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/20/companies-claim-theres-a-labor-shortage-their-solution-prisoners|url-status=live}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [http://www.russellstover.com/ Russell Stover website]
Category:American chocolate companies
Category:Food and drink companies established in 1923
Category:Manufacturing companies based in Kansas City, Missouri
Category:American companies established in 1923
Category:1923 establishments in Colorado
Category:Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food industry
Category:2014 mergers and acquisitions
Category:American subsidiaries of foreign companies