Tuesday, January 6, 2015

KNOW WHAT I MEAN...










Just before Christmas, the Captain and I went on a tour of the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield. 
 It was a very interesting and informative trip. 
 The picture above is of the back of our tour guide's shirt. 
 He was a young man, attending college while working at the Factory.
  He was very well informed and able to keep our interest with all of the facts that he shared. 
 He had only been working there since May, so we got the impression that he loved and cared about his job. 
 A refreshing sight to see.






It is a very colorful place and
 was all dressed up for Christmas
 as you might imagine.





The lobby is where you line up for the tours
 along with all the beans that you can sample and buy.





This picture of Santa Claus is made up of all colorful Jelly Belly beans.
  There are many such pictures throughout the tour of famous celebrities,
 but this gentleman was the star of the moment here
on this side of the lobby, but...





...just across the way
 was the portrait of President Ronald Reagan,
 who put Jelly Belly candies on the map,
 so to speak.

I don't know how many beans it took to form this likeness,
 but in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California,
 there is a portrait of the president made
 from 10,000 Jelly Belly beans.





I was very disappointed 
that we weren't allowed to take photos beyond 
the outside entrance 
or the lobby.

This was such an interesting tour,
from the way it was laid out
 to all the pieces of machinery and ideas used to make it work. 
 Without pictures 
it will be hard to describe to it's full potential,
 but I will try.






Imagine you are on a catwalk 
high above the scenes taking place below. 
 It really reminded me of an animated cartoon show. 
 There are quite a number of "elves" moving around and 
doing all sorts of busy work with each having specific jobs to do, but
 minus the tinkling bells and pointy shoes.


Besides the human element,
 there are a number of robots, with long arms,
 moving the beans from one spot to another and 
locating them within the same color family that they belong to.




As you look down you see a long line of moving belts 
crisscrossing the entire building. 
 It reminds you of a tiny village full of little miniature escalators
 moving tiny product from one place to another in the village.
  At one station 
there will be a man hand picking out the beans that are not matching up to their high standards. 
 These are labeled and sold as Belly Flops.
  At another station
 the robots will be picking up trays full of beans and 
separating them into stacks that are then put on different conveyor belts to take them to the next process. 
 There are also round tubs
 that the trays get dumped into
 to be polished.
There are many rooms where the beans are left in trays to cure 
until they are ready for the next procedure. 
One of the last procedures is the folding and stacking of the boxes and 
then the beans being dumped into the containers
 for shipping and selling.
  The beans are shipped all over the world.





At the end of the tour, 
after returning to the lobby area,
 I felt like whistling,
 "Hi, Ho, Hi, Ho, it's off to work we go"!





Here are some interesting facts about Jelly Belly beans that I researched on Google:




Very Cherry remained the most popular flavor of Jelly Belly beans for two decades
 until 1998,
 when Buttered Popcorn moved into first place.
  In 2003, Very Cherry moved back into top position 
by a mere 8 million beans. 
 This season two new flavors were added, Draft Beer and Champagne.


Blueberry flavor was created for Ronald Reagan's presidential inauguration
 in 1981
 when over three tons of Jelly Belly beans were consumed during the festivities.


During the presidency of Ronald Reagan,
 Jelly Belly beans were served in the oval office and on Air Force One. 
 A holder was designed for the plane
 so the jar of Jelly Belly beans would not spill 
during turbulence.


It takes 7 to 21 days 
to make a single Jelly Belly
 jelly bean.


Gustav Goelitz, 24,
 opens a candy business in Belleville, Illinois, 
and set the family on its sweet destiny in 1860. 
 An 1861 advertisement
 recommended sending jelly beans
 to soldiers fighting 
in the Civil War.


Enough Jelly Belly beans were eaten in the last year 
to circle the earth more than 
five times.


The original eight flavors of Jelly Belly beans 
introduced in 1976 were
 Very Cherry, Root Beer, Cream Soda, Tangerine, Green Apple, Lemon, Licorice and Grape.


Jelly Belly beans were the first jelly beans in outer space 
when President Reagan sent them on the 1983 flight 
of the space shuttle
 Challenger.


Jelly Belly donated 288,000 jelly beans in 47 different flavors 
for the world's first jelly bean stop-motion animation music video,
 "In Your Arms" by Kina Grannis; released November 2011.





Like I said, 
I wish I could have shown more photos
 but if you ever have an occasion to visit a jelly bean factory, 
I really hope you do. 
 It is really an exciting and enjoyable experience.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I'm so happy that Fixer Upper returns tonight for its new season on HGTV.  I admire Joanna and Chip's style of decorating and I'm hoping to work a few of her wonderful ideas into projects that are ongoing throughout the Cottage.

FYI:  The jelly beans shown in some pictures are not Jelly Belly beans.
 I bought four boxes when at the factory
 and gave two to Jake and Jacenda for Christmas 
and two to our neighbors for feeding the cats. 
I didn't want any laying around so I could OD on them.
 BUT, since I needed some for the photo shoot I had to send the Captain to the store.
 Had I just bought an extra box
 at least I could have OD'd on something good!

 Know what I mean, Jelly Bean?


...Judy...






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14 comments:

  1. How very interesting - thank you so much Judy, for sharing your visit to the Jelly Bean Factory. Sounds like you had lots of fun. Where is it located at? Have a wonderful evening.
    Mary

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  2. Sounds like so much fun.....I would love to visit it some day!!! I can't remember the last time I ate a jelly bean but next time I go to the store I am going to buy some now!!!
    ~Des

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  3. That sure was interesting. I bet they taste best fresh at the plant.

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  4. hahhaa...what a fantastic post...I am so hungry for a handful of Jelly Beans right now, I could just spit....hahhhaa

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  5. Fun trip - love all the Jelly Bean stuff - but Jelly Beans stick in my teeth so AI rarely eat them. I think they are pretty to look at though, but then I'd rather look at flowers so that is where I spend my money. Loved the description - it was very clear. But I think those little elves are running around in there making jelly beans from moon beams - that's what I think.

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  6. Judy, I loved the tour with you. Nice photos. Very interesting facts. I would love root beer and licorice flavors. I like that Fixer Upper show too. I miss Room By Room and Decorating Cents. ....I do get a bit tired of some shows thinking the average person has 50 thousand or more dollars for revamping a home. Not me . LOL.. Blessings, xoxo,Susie

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  7. Wow Judy, you really know the jelly bean facts! So interesting, and yummy looking-now I want to go buy some. The jelly bean portrait of Santa and Ronald Reagan are amazing!! Too bad you couldn't take pics inside but you explained the process very well. :) Thanks for taking us along with you.
    Gina

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  8. hello
    MERCI Judy pour ton soutien
    il est vrai que nous sommes un peu secoué
    surtout que je pense que rien n'est fini
    j'ai un peu peur de notre avenir en EUROPE
    mais je pense que tous les pays on cette crainte
    tendresse
    edith (iris FRANCE " JE SUIS CHARLIE

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  9. What a great place! Who would think? Cheery as jellybeans! haha! Glad to see you are having a great start to the new year. You are such a sweetie to let me know when you stop by! I am so behind on my visits. But happy that life is so full. You are such a cheery presence in Blogland Judy! Hope it's a grreat year for you!

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  10. Hi Judy, what a fun place to visit. I loved this post and all the history shared. Your pics are wonderful and I love seeing the artwork made from jelly beans.
    Thank you for stopping by and your kind and always sweet comments. Have a great week ahead my friend.
    Hugs and Blessings

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  11. What a fun trip that must have been! I love factory tours, so much information and things to watch! And...Jelly Belly's are just good!!! I also love Fixer Upper! I'm heading to Waco in a couple months and hope to 'bump' into them :) Blessings, Cindy

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  12. We have toured Jelly Belly twice on two different trips to California. Loved it both times. My favorite part is learning what flavors I can pop in my mouth at the same time to make another flavor.

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  13. I love Jelly Bellys but I want all sweet or all savory. I don't want Buttered Popcorn when I think I'm getting lemon. KWIM? I remembered that Reagan loved them.

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  14. That looks like a fun place.. How interesting that you couldn't take pictures and those pictures were cool.
    thanks for sharing

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Your comments are so special to me...Judy