Leaf Candy Company
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| Industry | Sugar confectionery |
|---|---|
| Successor | Cloetta |
| Founded | 1940 |
| Headquarters | Oosterhout, the Netherlands and , Sweden |
| Products | Candy, Gum, Pastilles |
| Owner | CVC Capital Partners, Nordic Capital |
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Number of employees
|
2,500 |
| Website | www.leaf.eu |
Leaf International BV was a confectionery company.
The Leaf Candy Company was founded in the 1940s. After several mergers and acquisitions Leaf merged with the Swedish confectionery company Cloetta, and dropped the Leaf name.
Leaf products included sugared and sugar-free gum, pastilles, candy, liquorices, peppermints, chocolate, nougat, sweeteners, and chews.
Leaf had sales of approximately €527m (2010) and 2,400 employees. It has 11 factories in seven countries. Leaf was owned by CVC Capital Partners, Nordic Capital, and management. Bengt Baron was the CEO of Leaf.
The company was founded by Sol S. Leaf in Chicago, Illinois in the 1940s. This and other companies he founded were merged to create Leaf Brands in 1947. Its history includes a number of mergers, acquisitions, and divisions, as well as several name changes.
In 1940, the Leaf Confectionery Company introduced Rainblo Bubble Gum. In 1947, the Overland Candy Company (makers of Whoppers brand malted milk candy) merged with the Chicago Biscuit Company, Leaf Confectionary Company, and Leaf Machinery to form Leaf Brands. In 1948, Leaf issued its first set of baseball cards, the first post-World War II color set. In 1949, Leaf Brands reintroduced Whoppers Malted Milk Balls.
In the 1960s, Whoppers Malted Milk Balls brand and other products manufactured by Leaf Brands were purchased by W. R. Grace and Company, who sold them back in 1976.
In 1983, Leaf acquired Jolly Rancher. Also in 1983, the Leaf Candy Company in Illinois was purchased by Huhtamäki Oyj of Helsinki, Finland, and merged it with Phoenix Candy (the maker of Now and Later) and another candy company it had acquired, all under the Leaf name. Huhtamäki Oyj acquired the Donruss trading card division of General Mills at about the same time and merged it into Leaf.
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Wikipedia