The Willy Wonka Candy Company

The Willy Wonka Candy Company
Owner Nestlé S.A.
Country United Kingdom
Introduced 1971
Markets internationally
Previous owners Sunmark
Website www.wonka.com

The Willy Wonka Candy Company is a British brand of candy owned and licensed by Swiss corporation Nestlé. The Wonka brand's inception comes from materials licensed from British author Roald Dahl. His classic children's novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and its film adaptations are the source of both the packaging and the marketing styles of the Wonka brand. The brand was launched in 1971, coinciding with the release of the novel's first film adaptation.[1] In 1988 the Willy Wonka Candy Company brand – then owned by Sunmark Corporation – was acquired by Nestlé.[2] Nestlé sells sweets and chocolate under the Willy Wonka brand name in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Africa, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica, Panama, and the Middle East.

Origins

The Willy Wonka Candy Company was first imagined in the pages of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The 'Wonka' property was licensed to film director Mel Stuart; his 10-year-old daughter read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and asked her father to make it into a film, obliging him to get "Uncle Dave" (producer David L. Wolper) to produce it. Stuart showed the book to Wolper, who was engaged in talks with the Quaker Oats Company. Wolper convinced the Quaker Oats Company into signing the deal for up to $3 million to finance the film version in exchange for the candy bar tie-in.[3] Quaker, who had no previous experience in the film industry, bought the rights to the book and financed the picture for the purpose of promoting their new Wonka Bar. The name of Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory however was renamed to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory for promotion purposes.

The new brand was produced by Chicago-based company Breaker Confections (a subsidiary of Quaker Oats), which in 1975 was acquired by Sunmark Corporation of Saint Louis, Missouri. The original Wonka Bars never saw store shelves due to factory production problems prior to the film's release, but subsequent Wonka product releases were highly successful. In 1980 Breaker Confections changed its name to Willy Wonka Brands in an attempt at developing its Wonka brand image before it sold-out in 1986 to Rowntree Mackintosh Confectionery of the U.K., who sold-out in 1988 to Swiss company Nestlé, who in 1993 renamed it to Willy Wonka Candy Company.[4] Today, the company produces over 100 different varieties of candy.

A number of the Willy Wonka-branded products originated from Roald Dahl's book and later film adaptations, while others were originally created or acquired for the brand. Some of the products included under the brand include Everlasting Gobstoppers, SweeTarts, Laffy Taffy, Nerds, Kazoozles, Shockers, Bottle Caps, Gummies, Fun Dip, Spree, Runts, Pixy Stix, MixUps and their world-famous Wonka Bars.[5]

In the United States, the Willy Wonka Candy Factory is located today at 1445 West Norwood Avenue in Itasca, Illinois.[3]

Current products

Previous Products

References

  1. ↑ "Willy Wonka company information". Careers In Food. Retrieved 2010-12-28.
  2. ↑ "Nestlé Corporate History". Nestlé. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  3. 1 2 "At 40, Wonka Candy Is Greatest Reverse Product Placement Ever". Brand Channel. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  4. ↑ J.M. Kenny (Writer, Director, Producer) (2001). Pure Imagination: The Story of 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' (DVD). USA: Warner Home Video. Retrieved 2006-12-02.
  5. ↑ "Wonka Products". Nestlé. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  6. ↑ Best, Dean (16 February 2015). "Nestle eyes liquorice market with Sweetarts NPD". just-food. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
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