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Love it or hate it, candy corn has a deep-rooted history in America that goes back to the 1800s.
What started as a complicated manufacturing process has become a modern-day Halloween candy staple.
Historians trace candy corn's roots to the Wunderle Candy Company in Philadelphia, where its employee George Renninger invented the candy in the 1880s.
By 1888, The Wunderle Candy Company became the first commercial producer of candy corn.
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Wunderle first marketed candy corn under the name “Chicken Feed.”
They chose the name because their initial market was the agricultural communities that dominated American society at the time.
There was also a trend at the time that aligned with other nature-inspired candies of the era, which included shapes like chestnuts, turnips, and clover leaves.
The original manufacturing process was tedious, relying on intensive manual labor.
The candy makers combined:
Workers known as “runners” heated and carefully poured the goop, carrying 45-pound buckets of the mixtures to the molds.
Each color layer had to be poured separately by hand into the kernel-shaped molds.
This was the only way to get its iconic shape and tricolor appearance.
In 1898, the Goelitz Confectionery Company (now known as Jelly Belly) began manufacturing candy corn.
They helped candy corn become mainstream nationwide by selling it as a year-round penny candy.
After World War II—Halloween trick-or-treating became a mainstay in America—candy corn became the main staple for the tradition in the 1950s.
Increased October advertising and automation of the manufacturing process helped candy corn skyrocket in popularity during this era.
Candy companies were also looking for ways to expand their seasonal marketing beyond Christmas and Easter.
The candy’s autumn-themed colors and harvest association—made it a natural fit for Halloween.
Today, candy corn is a major part of American candy culture with the help of Brach’s Confections.
Brach’s now dominates the candy corn market with about 85% of all Halloween season sales or about 9 billion pieces!
And sales that generate an impressive $75 million as of 2022.
The company has even created new variations that include “reindeer corn” for Christmas and “cupid corn” for Valentine’s Day.
And new flavors like:
The candy is now a unique part of America, with October 30th officially recognized as National Candy Corn Day.
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