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The Rise of Jelly Belly
The company that put the gourmet jelly bean on the map became known worldwide when Jelly Belly beans were taken to the White House during the Ronald Reagan administration. Of the tiny, but flavorful treat President Ronald Reagan famously said: “We can hardly start a meeting or make a decision without passing the jar of jelly beans.”
Today, Jelly Belly makes the largest range of flavors on the market anywhere in the world, with about 92 flavors in production.
The Role of the OU
During the company’s impressive growth phase, the candy company had all of its products kosher certified. But something was missing, and kosher consumers were still hesitant.
About 17 years later, Jelly Belly partnered with OU—the world’s largest and most widely recognized kosher certification agency—to add its kosher symbols to all products.
Of this partnership, a spokesperson for Jelly Belly told the KosherEye: “Jelly Belly beans have been certified kosher for two decades, however, once we changed to the Orthodox Union kosher certification three years ago we noticed more acceptance by kosher consumers. Because Jelly Belly beans have always been gelatin-free and we only use the highest quality ingredients, we knew we had a product that would appeal to kosher consumers.
Companies Like Jelly Belly Recognize the Kosher Advantage
“Often labels will sport an ‘O’ with a ‘U’ inside. This is the stamp of approval of the largest kosher-certification body, and basically means there’s no need to read the label….” — Wall Street Journal
As Jelly Belly can attest, it is the OU symbol that draws consumers in. That’s why close to 70% of America’s most popular kosher certified foods—from Chobani to Coca-Cola—bear the OU kosher symbol.
Busy shoppers choose the products that have a clear kosher certification from an agency they trust. Because of this, a product with a prominent OU symbol is more likely to make it into a shopper’s cart.
OU Provides the Competitive Edge
There is clear evidence that kosher symbols boost market share and win more highly coveted shelf space—a kosher product will outperform a non-Kosher product by 20%.
Jelly Belly knows this—they recognize the OU symbol as an extremely important tool to enhance their products’ marketability. They have learned that products with the OU symbol sell faster and are favored by retail stores. Ultimately, this generates more sales, and leads to an increase in business.
OU Signifies Quality
Smart brands, like Jelly Belly, know consistency builds brand loyalty. And because the OU carefully reviews all ingredients and production practices before granting its seal, consumers trust the OU seal. When that seal appears on Jelly Belly’s products, food industry personnel, kosher inspectors, and shoppers inherently trust Jelly Belly, too.