Dive Brief:
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Bazooka Brands announced this week it recently opened a new manufacturing plant for Ring Pops capable of producing 1.5 million of the candies per day.
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The 120,000 square foot manufacturing plant in Moosic, Pennsylvania, is roughly four times larger than the facility it’s replacing and will help Bazooka meet growing demand for Ring Pops, according to a statement. The company did not disclose the factory’s cost, though it said it was a “multimillion-dollar investment.”
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The new facility replaces the original Ring Pop factory which operated in nearby Scranton, Pennsylvania, for 47 years before it unexpectedly closed last August due to structural issues, according to the Scranton Times-Tribune.
Dive Insight:
Tony Jacobs, the CEO of Bazooka, said he thought it would take over a year to get its supply chain running again, but the company’s employees worked fast and secured a new location for a factory within weeks.
“In a matter of months, they moved our equipment,” said Jacobs in a statement. “And in just six months, the facility, our equipment, and our team were fully operational again. What an unbelievable accomplishment.”
The facility was funded by private equity firm Apax Partners, which acquired Bazooka in 2023 for an undisclosed amount.
The confectioner, which makes a variety of products from Baby Bottle Pop to Bazooka gum, said the manufacturing overhaul comes at a time of growth. Company sales are projected to cross $100 million in 2025, a press release said.
Ring Pop was first introduced in 1979 by Frank Richards, a product engineer at its original owner the Topps Company, who created the candy to help his daughter break her habit of thumb-sucking.
As candy makers struggle to deal with some consumers turning away from sweets, Bazooka continues to appeal to nostalgia through its product lines and marketing. Other classic candy makers are making similar investments in their production facilities, including Blow Pop owner Charms’ $97 million investment to expand its Tennessee plant.
The overall market for candy in the U.S. is projected to reach $22.9 billion by 2030, increasing at a compound annual growth rate of 4.9%, according to Research and Markets.