Ferrara Candy Company Sees Unprecedented Growth in Non-Chocolate Category This Easter

Ferrara Candy Company's seasonal business continues to outpace the category with 2-3X category growth rates. With their iconic Brach's brand leading the way and innovation from top sour gummi brand Trolli, Ferrara Candy Company expects to continue to outperform as the non-chocolate confection leader in the U.S. As the leading manufacturer of jelly beans this time of year, Easter is a high priority moment for the candy company.

"Jelly beans account for over 40% of non-chocolate Easter sales and it wouldn't be Easter without the 15 MM pounds of jelly beans produced by Ferrara Candy Company," said Peter Goldman, Director of Brach's and Seasonal Confections, Ferrara Candy Company. "We hope to grow our share during Easter in the non-chocolate category for the sixth season in a row."

Ferrara Candy Company offers many traditional confectionery favorites for the Easter season. Brach's Classic Jelly Bird Eggs rank as the #2 jelly bean sold during this spring-focused timeframe. Other popular offerings include Brach's Spiced, Speckled, and Black Jelly Bird Eggs. Recent line extensions feature Brach's Pectin Jelly Beans, Brach's Jumbo Jelly Beans and new in 2016 are the Brach's Fruit Crèmes Jelly Bean Mix featuring "creamy" flavors Orange crème, Strawberry crème, Raspberry crème, Lemon crème and Peaches & crème.

"Ferrara Candy Company is known for combining tradition with innovation to deliver the brands that people love," said Jamie Mattikow, Chief Commercial Officer, Ferrara Candy Company. "We seek to contemporize the Brach's offering while leveraging the longstanding tradition and heritage for which the brand is known. This is evident in our new branding and packaging, which debuted in 2014."

In addition to revitalizing many of its iconic brands, Ferrara Candy Company is focused on innovation and expansion. This year, the company expanded their Easter portfolio to include products from Trolli one of Ferrara's fastest growing brands to appeal to the growing Generation Z and Millennial audiences. Leveraging their "weirdly awesome" platform, Trolli adds two new items to the Easter lineup: Trolli Sour Brite Gummi Beans and Trolli Extreme Sour Egg Bites.

Building upon the core Easter items with new pack type offerings is another way Ferrara innovates in order to stay relevant with consumers during the seasonal timeframes. "We expect to see growth in our Classic Jelly Bird eggs Big bags (33 oz +) as well as our multi-pack boxes like the 5-pack of Tiny Jelly Bird Egg boxes in Brach's Classic flavor offering," continued Goldman. "These pack sizes are perfect for every usage occasion during the Easter season from basket builders to egg hunts and candy dishes."

Ferrara Candy Company's Brach's and Trolli Easter offerings can be found at most retailers nationwide including grocery, drug, and dollar stores. For more information on Brach's, visit www.Brachs.com. Check out Brach's on Facebook, Twitter (@BrachsCandyUSA), and Instagram (@BrachsUSA). For more information on Trolli, visit www.WeirdlyAwesome.com. Check out Trolli on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram (@Trolli_USA).

About Ferrara Candy Company, Inc.
Headquartered in Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., Ferrara Candy Company is a leading general line candy manufacturer, created by the merger of Ferrara Pan Candy Company, Inc. and Farley's & Sathers Candy Company, Inc. in 2012. The Company manufactures a robust portfolio of branded and private label confections that consumers love. For more information, please visit the company's website, www.ferrarausa.com