Dive Brief:
- Jelly Belly inventor David Klein plans to produce a new line of jelly beans, "Original Coffee House Jelly Beans," after telling Chicago Tribune that giving up the rights to his original Jelly Belly product was his biggest mistake.
- Like many food and beverage startups, Klein is turning to Kickstarter to raise the funds he needs to produce his new jelly bean line, which he found has been too costly to do the traditional way.
- The caffeinated jelly beans will be packaged in 5-pound bags that retail for $49.75. While Jelly Belly beans only come in one coffee flavor, cappuccino, Klein's new line offers five flavor varieties: double buzz, chai tea, hot chocolate with peppermint, coffee and doughnuts, and caffe macchiato.
Dive Insight:
Klein invented Jelly Belly in 1976, and the beans were then manufactured by Herman Goelitz Candy Co. After Jelly Belly and its unique flavors saw fast success, Klein gave away his rights to the Jelly Belly name to Goelitz in 1980. Per the deal, he and his partner would each receive $10,000 per month for 20 years and had to sign a 20-year noncompete agreement.
Since the noncompete agreement ended 16 years ago, Klein has had hopes to get back in the jelly bean business, and with encouragement from his business partner, Jeff Thirtyacre, Klein launched his Kickstarter campaign earlier this week.
One aspect of production Klein will have to be mindful of is the beans' caffeine content, as the FDA is cracking down on the deluge of caffeinated products that have flooded the market in recent years. Most recently, this has included an investigation into the safety of STEEM, a caffeinated peanut butter product, and its marketing, as FDA and legislators feel peanut butter is a popular food for children, who should not be ingesting high levels of caffeine.