Smarties (wafer candy)
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| Product type | Confectionery |
|---|---|
| Owner | Smarties Candy Company |
| Country | United States |
| Introduced | 1949 |
| Markets | Worldwide |
| Website | www |
In the United States, Smarties are a type of tablet candy produced by Smarties Candy Company, formerly known as Ce De Candy Inc., since 1949. Smarties are produced in factories in both Union Township, New Jersey, and Newmarket, Ontario. The candies distributed in Canada are marketed as Rockets, to avoid confusion with Nestlé's Smarties. The New Jersey factory produces approximately 1 billion rolls of Smarties annually, and in total the company produces over 2.5 billion in a year.
One individual candy is a biconcave disc in shape, with a diameter of roughly 1 cm (0.39 in) and a height of roughly 4 mm (0.16 in). Larger ones have a diameter of 2.5 cm (0.98 in) and are about 6 mm (0.24 in) thick. Smarties come in combinations of colors within their wrapped rolls; these include white and pastel shades of yellow, pink, orange, purple, and green. Each color's flavor is different. They are usually packaged as a roll of 15 candies. Smarties candies are peanut-free, gluten-free, fat-free and dairy-free. All Smarties candies are free of animal products and are thus suitable for vegans.
After World War II, the Dee family bought pellet machines and repurposed them to make candy. This gave the candy its resemblance to tablet-style pills in shape and texture. When sugar prices spiked in the 1970s, Ce De Candy switched from sucrose to dextrose. In the 1990s, the Dee family purchased the website smarties.com.
In 2004, Ce De Candy Co., Inc., in conjunction with Rock The Vote, manufactured 500,000 special edition Smarties with "Rock the Vote" on the wrapper. A 3.5-ounce Theater box was released in 2009, with a retro look on the boxes. In 2011, Ce De Candy Company, Inc. changed its name to Smarties Candy Company. In August 2011, the company confirmed that Smarties were vegan.
The Smarties Candy Company operates two factories that produce smarties 24 hours a day for five days a week, amounting to over 700,000 pounds per day. After mixing the dry ingredients they are pressed into tablets and then stacked and rolled into a Smarties wrapper for packaging.
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