Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc.
TypePublic
NYSE: TR
S&P 600 Component
IndustryConfectionery
Founded1896 (1896)
FounderLeo Hirschfeld
HeadquartersChicago, Illinois
Key people
Ellen R. Gordon
(President/CEO)[1]
ProductsCandy
RevenueIncrease US$570,776,000 (2021)[2]
Increase US$67,133,000 (2021)[2]
Number of employees
2,000
Websitewww.tootsie.com

Tootsie Roll Industries is an American manufacturer of confectionery based in Chicago, Illinois. Its best-known products include the namesake Tootsie Rolls and Tootsie Pops. Tootsie Roll Industries currently markets its brands internationally in Canada, Mexico, and over 75 other countries.

History

In 1896, Leo Hirschfeld, an Austrian Jewish immigrant to the United States, began work at a small candy shop located in New York City owned by the Stern & Saalberg firm.[3] In 1907, Hirschfeld decided he wanted a chocolate-tasting candy that would not melt in the heat, and that would be an economical artificial alternative to traditional chocolates. He named the candy after the nickname of his daughter, Clara "Tootsie" Hirschfeld.[4][3] By this point, the company had expanded to a five-story factory. In 1917, the name of the company was changed to The Sweets Company of America. It was reformed and listed on the American Stock Exchange in 1919.[5]

The business forced Hirschfeld out about a year later, and he started a new company, Mells Candy Corporation, also known as The Merry Mells Company.[6] Owing to health and family issues, he committed suicide in 1922.[7] Mells failed in 1924.[8]

In 1931, the Tootsie Pop — a hard-candy lollipop with Tootsie Roll filling — was invented, and quickly became popular with Dust Bowl refugees during the Depression era because of its low price. During World War II, Tootsie Rolls became a standard part of American soldiers' field rations, due to the sustainability of the candy under a variety of environmental conditions.[3]

In 1935, the company was in serious difficulty. Its principal supplier of paper boxes, Joseph Rubin & Sons of Brooklyn — concerned about the possible loss of an important customer — became interested in the possibility of acquiring control. The company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange, but Bernard D. Rubin acquired a list of shareholders and approached them in person in order to purchase their shares. The Rubins eventually achieved control and agreed that Bernard would run the company as president. Mr. Rubin was able to steadily increase sales and restore profits, changing the formula of the Tootsie Roll and increasing its size, moving from Manhattan to a much larger plant in Hoboken, New Jersey, and guiding the company successfully through the difficult war years when vital raw materials were in short supply. When he died in 1948, he had increased the sales volume twelvefold. After his death, his brother William B. Rubin became president and remained president until 1962.

In 1962, William's daughter, Ellen Rubin Gordon, took control, and as of January 2015, is Chairman and CEO of the company.[9] For many years prior to his death, her husband, Melvin Gordon, was Chairman and CEO from 1962 to 2015.[1]

In 1966, the company adopted its current name of "Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc."[10][11][12]

The company has acquired several famous brands of confections such as The Candy Corporation of America's Mason Division (1972), Cella's Confections (1985), The Charms Company (1988), Warner-Lambert's candy division (1993; excluding gum and mints), Andes Candies (2000), and Concord Confections (2004).

Facilities

The company's headquarters is located on the South Side of Chicago, in a portion of the former Dodge Chicago Plant where the majority of the company's candy is produced. The company also has a factory in Mexico City where it produces some flavors of Tootsie Pops and other candy products for the Mexican market as well as for export to the U.S. and Canada. There is also a candy factory in The Port neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts (belonging to the subsidiary "Cambridge Brands", formerly home to its predecessor, the James O. Welch Company),[13] and a factory in Spain that produces candy for export to Canada.[14]

Brands and products

A large Tootsie Roll log
Dots gumdrops

Tootsie Roll brands and products include:

References

  1. 1 2 Alison Griswold (January 21, 2015). "Tootsie Roll CEO dies at 95: We may never know how many licks". Slate Magazine.
  2. 1 2 "Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. (TR) Financials". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 Andrew F. Smith (2006). Encyclopedia of junk food and fast food. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-33527-3. Entry "Tootsie Roll", p 271.
  4. ↑ "Tootsie Roll Factory!". Archived from the original on December 21, 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
  5. ↑ "Candy Company Organized". The Evening Sun. July 3, 1919. p. 9. Retrieved June 3, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ The Soda Fountain. D. O. Haynes. 1922. pp. 89, 91.
  7. ↑ "Kills Himself in Hotel – Illness and Wife's Breakdown Are Blamed for Candy Man's Suicide". The New York Times. January 13, 1922. p. 13 (S 22). Retrieved November 28, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ January 4, 1 longwhitekid |; Pm, 2014 at 6:37 (January 4, 2014). "Tootsie Roll Tragedy: The Real Leo Hirschfeld Story". Candy Professor. Archived from the original on March 19, 2016. Retrieved June 3, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ↑ Kesling, Ben (August 22, 2012). "Tootsie's Secret Empire". The Wall Street Journal. pp. B1–B2.
  10. ↑ Schlesinger, Hank (February 2, 2015). "Melvin Gordon Is Dead At 95; Led Tootsie Roll Industries". Vending Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  11. ↑ Watt, Abigail (January 22, 2015). "CEO and Chairman of Tootsie Roll Melvin Gordon dies at 95". Candy Industry. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  12. ↑ Strom, Stephanie (January 21, 2015). "Melvin J. Gordon, Who Ran Tootsie Roll Industries, Dies at 95". New York Times. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Tootsie Roll Candies - Cambridge Brands, Cambridge, MA - Iconic Factories on Waymarking.com". www.waymarking.com.
  14. ↑ "Photo". steemitimages.com. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
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