PROFILPELAJAR.COM

Product type	gummies, chocolate
Country	Indiana, United States of America
Introduced	1983
Website	albanesecandy.com

Albanese Candy is a candy manufacturer in Hobart, Indiana. Founded in 1983 by Scott Albanese, it specializes in the production of gummies and chocolate-covered goods. As of 2022, the company employs roughly 700 workers and ships to 41 countries.^[1]^[2] It is said to be the home of "the world's best gummies."^[2]^[3]

Founder

Scott Albanese, the founder, was born in Dolton, Illinois. He credits his success to a strong work ethic attributable to "his construction/bricklayer/restaurant/blue-collar upbringing".^[2]^[4]^[5] He was inspired to open the business after buying raw materials of chocolates, candy, and nuts, and identifying a business opportunity. He says that opening a business in the 1980s seemed like poor timing, but that he saw an entrepreneurial opening and took it. He says that a commitment to consistent high quality and product integrity was integral to his success.^[2] In 2018, the Indiana Small Business Development Center gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award.^[6]

History

In 1995, the Merrillville facility had 10–12 employees.^[7]

In 1998, Albanese developed a new technology to allow more intense flavor release from gelatins.^[8] The system coats the candy trays with corn starch, a process used by only three candy-makers in the United States.^[9] More than 300,000 lb (140,000 kg) of gummy bears are sold every day.^[10] Albanese is particularly known for its gummy candy; the Hobart store sells gummy worms, butterflies, and green army soldiers amongst many other shapes and flavors.^[11] In 2006, the company introduced 27 in (690 mm) multicolor gummy snakes.^[12]

The Albanese company's soldier-shaped gummies were shipped to Iraq and distributed to deployed soldiers in 2003.^[2]^[13] This effort left the United States Air Force members feeling overlooked, and the company developed a product line featuring military jet aircraft molds: a B-2 Spirit, F-15 Eagle, F/A-18 Hornet, F/A-22 Raptor, F-117 Nighthawk, and SR-71 Blackbird.^[14]

In late 2004, a factory measuring 350,000 sq ft (33,000 m²)^[15] and an outlet store were opened in Hobart, Indiana.^[16] The Hobart factory formerly offered self-guided tours;^[17] in the entrance hall, there was a 32 ft-tall (9.8 m) chocolate fountain, the largest in the country. ^[2]^[18]

In 2014, gummies graced a large scale stained glass window mural in Tokyo, Japan's Espace Luis Vuitton museum.^[2] In 2014 the company also spent $16 million to expand its retail store to 190,000 sq ft (18,000 m²).^[7]

In 2017 the company announced that they would be adding 150 employees at the Hobart location. Additionally, they decided to invest $33 million into that location. The city of Hobart gave the company a ten-year tax abatement. The company said they would have 550 employees at the Hobart location.^[7]

In 2019 the company's Hobart location had a machinery fire.^[19] In 2020 one of the workers at the Hobart factory had to be airlifted to a hospital after being injured in the factory.^[20]

The company is continuously experimenting with products for key theme parks, Fannie May, and Marshall Fields, Scott said.^[14]

Awards

2006 Professional Candy Buyer's Product of the Year award - technology award for developing a process that can put omega-3 fish oil in the gummies^[21]
2020 Next Awards: Albanese Confectionery’s Ultimate 8 Flavor Gummi Bears won the Consumer Choice Award for Food and Beverage.^[4]^[5]