Did you ever wonder about how Jolly Rancher came to be? Before Hershey’s was the owner of Jolly Rancher, Bill and Dorothy Harmsen opened the Jolly Rancher Ice Cream Store out West. The name was created as a way to make ranchers seem approachable to tourists or “jolly”. The owners found it was difficult to sell ice cream during the cold winter months, so they added bulk and boxed chocolates.
As their business grew, the Jolly Rancher Company expanded with franchise stores in Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska. In these stores they sold a five cent hot cinnamon taffy stick, the “Fire Stix” that became very popular. Because of the love for Fire Stix, the Company grew its hard candy products. This led to what we now know and love as the Jolly Rancher.
Throughout the years, many flavors have been added, discontinued and at times brought back. Out of all the flavors, many people take a liking to blue raspberry, grape, and watermelon. In 2023, the Jolly Rancher hard candy line sold $160 million in sales, proving to be one of the most popular hard candies in the U.S.
There are many discontinued jolly rancher flavors; some include pineapple, cinnamon fire, peach, mountain berry, watermelon/cayenne pepper, blue raspberry/sriracha, cherry/habanero, and green apple/ginger.
What’s your favorite flavor? Comment below!
