Ahhh, remember the smell of chocolate that used to fill the air downtown? At one point, more than 1,000 candy companies produced here, employing Chicagoans like my great-grandmother, a Lithuanian immigrant who made Frango mints on State Street.
Today, Chicago is no longer a candy capital. Just this week, Ferrara Candy Company announced it’s closing its Little Village factory — which made Nerds, Laffy Taffy, and more — laying off 154 employees.
What happened?
Candy-making history
Before World War 1, candy was associated with children and women. But soldiers got used to eating it in their rations. When they came home, a new market emerged.
- In Chicago, the extensive railway system made pushing candy easy. By the mid-20th century, the candy industry employed over 25,000 local workers. But by the 2000s, confectioners were moving out. That deindustrialization hit the South and West Sides particularly hard.
Wrigley will always be associated with Chicago. But after nearly 100 years, the chewing-gum company ended production in Chicago in 2005. Mars bought Wrigley in 2008, and candy — including Snickers and M&Ms — was produced at the Mars-Wrigley factory in Galewood till 2024.
- Today, plans for the Mars-Wrigley factory site are still uncertain. While neighbors push for a “campus-style redevelopment” including a library, grocery store, and restaurants, the land’s developer favors more housing.
- In Bridgeport, the former Wrigley gum factory grounds are now an Amazon warehouse.
Blommer, supplier of said chocolate smell, was once North America’s largest and oldest independent cocoa bean processor. It sold chocolate to other brands for use.
- In 2024, after being acquired by Fuji Oil, the Kinzie Street plant closed, and production shifted to other plants. Headquarters remain at Merchandise Mart.
Frango mints were once made inside the original Marshall Field’s, but production moved to Pennsylvania in 1999. Some production briefly returned to Chicago, through Cupid Candies.
- Garrett Brands (yes, as in the popcorn) purchased Frango in 2017, though it’s still for sale at Macy’s.
More Bygone Chicago Candy Companies:
- Brach's, founded in Chicago in 1904, phased out local production in 2001.
- Fannie May went bankrupt in 2004, laying off hundreds. Today, it’s owned by Ferrero, which also owns Ferrara, and is produced in Ohio.
- Jelly Belly, acquired by Ferrara in 2023, closed its North Chicago plant in 2024 after 110 years.
What’s Still Here
“It’s not all what it used to be, but this is still a major city for candy,” says sweets historian Leslie Goddard.
- Tootsie Roll Industries still produces in Chicago, near Midway.
- Ferrero opened a new Franklin Park facility in April. It also produces Butterfinger and Baby Ruth there (both originally launched by Chicago-based Curtiss Candy Company).
- World’s Finest Chocolate still produces at its factory in Archer Heights. Visit the outlet store!
- Mars tests experimental M&M’s and Snickers flavors at its research center in Goose Island.
- The South Side’s “Willy Wonka,” Stephanie Hart purchased the old Cupid Candies plant in 2020 and launched her own candy line.
- Snack-wise, Mondelēz International Chicago Bakery remains the largest in the world.
