Jelly Bean Production Process

Origins

• Historical Background:
  • Jelly bean's jelly center may date back to biblical times and Turkish delight.
  • Outer shell added centuries later, leading to the modern jelly bean.

Production Process

Sugar Jelly Center

• Ingredients & Initial Cooking:
  • Liquid sugar heated to 175 degrees Celsius.
  • Glucose and starch added.
  • Mixed with an agitating device.

Moulding

• Preparing Moulds:

  • Starch distributed onto large trays via a drum.
  • A leveller evens out starch; excess is brushed off and recycled.
  • Moulding board creates 756 jelly bean impressions per tray.

• Filling Moulds:

  • Sugar and starch mix injected into starch moulds.
  • Capable of producing nearly a million jelly bean centres per hour.

Drying and Separation

• Drying:

  • Centres placed in a drying room for 24 hours to solidify and become chewy.

• Separation:

  • Trays flip to release jelly bean centres from starch.
  • Centres isolated from starch using a drum.

Coating Process

• Sugar Coating:

  • Centres placed on a mesh conveyor to a steam belt, preparing them for sugar coating.
  • Enter a sander drum; sprayed with sugar.

• Colouring and Flavouring:

  • Blue food colouring added to liquid sugar in another part of the factory.
  • Engrossing syrup, colour, and flavouring added in a spinning pan with jelly bean centres.

• Building the Coating:

  • Sugar added to the mixture, process repeated four times to build the coating.

Final Processing

• Polishing:

  • Hot syrup added next day; beans tossed for polishing.
  • 124,000 jelly beans per pan.
  • Wax added for gloss; beans rub together to distribute wax.

• Drying:

  • Beans air dry for 24 hours to set the glaze.

Packaging

• After 3.5 days, jelly beans move along conveyors.
• Scales divide them into portions.
• Packaged for distribution and consumption.