History
Salvatore Ferrara emigrated from Nola to New York in 1900.[30] In 1908, he opened a bakery at 772 W. Taylor with his brother-in-law, Salvatore "Sal" Lezza, in the heart of Chicago's "Little Italy" neighborhood.[31] He sold candy-coated almonds known as "confetti" (or Jordan almonds), a popular treat at Italian weddings.[30] Sal Lezza learned to pan candy in Italy and taught his brother-in-law the trade. At the time, however, wedding cakes were the big profit maker and the relatives split the business into two, one with the bakery, led by Lezza; and, one for the candy, led by Ferrara.
Ferrara partnered with two brothers-in-law, Salvatore Buffardi and Anello Pagano.[32] They built a two-story brick building at 2200 W. Taylor and began producing a variety of panned candies.[30] The second floor of the building was devoted to the revolving kettles that produced the pan candy, with all of the machines being driven by a giant wheel. The candy was dropped to the shipping department below through a hole in the floor.
The private equity firm Catterton Partners, owner of Farley's & Sathers Candy Company, arranged the 2012 deal whereby that well-established confectioner would merge with the Ferrara Pan Candy Company. Although Ferrara Pan Candy was only about half the size of Farley's & Sathers, the new company was christened the Ferrara Candy Company and placed under the leadership of Ferrara Pan Chief Executive Salvatore Ferrara II.[33]
Ferrara Candy is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It operates seven manufacturing plants in the U.S. and Mexico, as well as distribution centers around the United States.
The company sells 92% of all mellowcremes in the U.S.; it is the largest producer of candy canes, the largest seller of conversation hearts and produces a large portion of the jelly beans that are consumed in the United States. The company has 21 starch moguls, of 40 in the U.S. as a whole. The company has between 700 and 800 pans operating at any given time. It states that it produces 1 million pounds of gummy candy per week in four manufacturing plants, two in the U.S. and two in Mexico. The company employs approximately 6,000 people.
