It should be a surprise that Jelly Belly, America's most famous jelly bean, has a history in other confections. A family enterprise starting in the mid-late 1800s, around the turn of the century it focused on candy corn and royal buttercreams. It wasn't until the 1960s that it started producing jelly beans, dubbed the Mini Jelly Bean. The Herman Goelitz company had a secret weapon, thoug. In 1965 the company release Mini Jelly Beans with flavor in the jelly center, not just in the shell. This was a novel, and ultimately profitable, concept. Finally, in 1976, the first line of official Jelly Belly jelly beans appeared, featuring root beer, green apple, licorice, cream soda, lemon, tangerine, very cherry, and grape flavors. By 1980 they'd expanded to 40 flavors, adding other flavors, including savory varieties, and styles along the way. Only in 1996 did they start stamping the Jelly Belly logo on each bean. In 2001 the company was officially renamed Jelly Belly Candy Company in honor of its mega hit product.