Tootsie Roll Industries facts for kids
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| Public | |
| Traded as | NYSE: TR S&P 600 component |
| Industry | Confectionery |
| Founded | 1896 |
| Founder | Leo Hirschfeld |
| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois |
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Key people
|
Ellen R. Gordon (President/CEO) |
| Products | Candy |
| Revenue |  US$570,776,000 (2021) |
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Operating income
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US$67,133,000 (2021) |
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Number of employees
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2,000 |
Tootsie Roll Industries is an American company that makes delicious candy. It is based in Chicago, Illinois. Some of its most famous treats are the classic Tootsie Rolls and Tootsie Pops. Tootsie Roll Industries sells its candies all over the world, including in Canada, Mexico, and more than 75 other countries.
The Sweet Story of Tootsie Roll
In 1896, a man named Leo Hirschfeld, who was an immigrant from Austria, started working at a small candy shop in New York City. In 1907, Leo had a great idea! He wanted to create a chocolate-tasting candy that would not melt easily in warm weather. He also wanted it to be an affordable choice compared to regular chocolate. He named this new candy "Tootsie Roll" after his daughter, Clara, whose nickname was "Tootsie." By this time, the company had grown quite a bit and had a five-story factory. In 1917, the company's name changed to The Sweets Company of America. A few years later, in 1919, it became a company whose shares could be bought and sold by anyone on the American Stock Exchange.
About a year after that, Leo Hirschfeld left the company. He started a new candy company called Mells Candy Corporation. Sadly, Leo passed away in 1922, and his new company closed in 1924.
In 1931, a new candy was invented: the Tootsie Pop! This was a hard candy lollipop with a chewy Tootsie Roll inside. It quickly became very popular, especially during the Great Depression, a time when many people had very little money. Tootsie Pops were a cheap and tasty treat. During World War II, Tootsie Rolls were even given to American soldiers as part of their food supplies because the candy could last a long time in different weather conditions.
In 1935, the company was having some tough times. A company that supplied them with paper boxes, Joseph Rubin & Sons, was worried about losing a big customer. So, they decided to help by taking over the candy company. Bernard D. Rubin became the new president. He worked hard to make the company better. He changed the Tootsie Roll recipe a little and made the candies bigger. He also moved the factory from Manhattan to a much larger one in Hoboken, New Jersey. Bernard successfully guided the company through the difficult war years when it was hard to get ingredients. When he passed away in 1948, he had made the company's sales grow 12 times bigger! After him, his brother William B. Rubin became president until 1962.
In 1962, William's daughter, Ellen Rubin Gordon, took charge. As of 2015, she is the Chairman and CEO of the company. Her husband, Melvin Gordon, was also Chairman and CEO for many years, from 1962 until 2015.
In 1966, the company officially changed its name to "Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc."
Over the years, Tootsie Roll Industries has bought several other famous candy brands. These include Mason Division (in 1972), Cella's Confections (1985), The Charms Company (1988), some of Warner-Lambert's candy brands (1993), Andes Candies (2000), and Concord Confections (2004).
Where Tootsie Rolls Are Made
The main office for Tootsie Roll Industries is located on the South Side of Chicago. This is also where most of the company's candy is made, in a part of what used to be a very large factory called the Dodge Chicago Plant.
The company also has a factory in Mexico City. This factory makes some flavors of Tootsie Pops and other candies for people in Mexico, and also sends them to the U.S. and Canada. There is another candy factory in The Port neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts. This factory belongs to a part of the company called "Cambridge Brands." Plus, there's a factory in Spain that makes candy to send to Canada.
Tootsie Roll's Sweet Family of Candies
Here are some of the popular candy brands and products made by Tootsie Roll:
- Andes Chocolate Mints
- Candy Blox
- Cella's chocolate-covered cherries
- Charleston Chew candy bars
- Charms Blow Pops and Caramel Apple Pops
- Child's Play assorted candies
- Dots gumdrops and Crows licorice candy
- Dubble Bubble, Thrills, Razzles, and Cry Baby chewing gum
- Fluffy Stuff cotton candy
- Frooties fruit flavored chewy candy
- Junior Mints
- Nik-L-Nip juice confection
- Polar Mint
- Sugar Daddy and Sugar Babies
- Tootsie Rolls and Tootsie Pops
- Wack-O-Wax, wax lips candy
