Business Opportunities Weblog

July 1, 2011 by Dane Carlson | 9 Comments

Candyman is a documentary movie about the rise and fall of Jelly Belly inventor David Klein.

In 1976 all jellybeans pretty much tasted the same and sold for less than $1 per pound.

A small candy distributor named David Klein had an idea that would change the face of jellybeans forever: he invented a premium, smaller jellybean, that used natural flavorings to flavor both the inside and the shell of the bean. These gourmet beans cost more than $2 per pound.

At first, he couldn’t give them away. Selling at more than double the price of other jellybeans, people laughed at him.

Determined, he called up the Associated Press and lied through his teeth. He told the editor that he had the only jellybean store in the world and that the store was doing gangbusters. He arranged for a reporter to visit, and then called all of his friends into action. They posed as customers and pretended to come and go from the store, buying and raving about the Jelly Belly beans. It worked, and overnight Jelly Belly was a success.

The colorful beans became a pop culture phenomenon, changed the candy industry forever and were personally endorsed by President Ronald Reagan.

However, David’s eccentric personality and peculiar sense of business led him to lose Jelly Belly just as it was about to explode and grow into a billion dollar enterprise.

If you’re interested in learning more about the guy responsible for some of life’s yummiest moments, you’ll enjoy this movie.

The DVD, which also features Weird Al Yankovic, is available at Amazon.

Giveaway after the jump.

The Giveaway

I have two copies of this DVD to giveaway. And since you can’t watch a movie about Jelly Belly without eating some, both DVDs will come with one pound of Jelly Belly jellybeans.

The full list of Jelly Belly flavors is here.

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In Featured, Giveaways | 9 Comments
Tags: Food, Video