History of Smarties candy

On January 10, 1949, Edward Dee brought his family from England to New Jersey. He rented a garage in Bloomfield, New Jersey, where he purchased a gunpowder pellet machine and repurposed it to make the small fruit-flavored pressed-sugar tablets. Equipped with only two machines, he succeeded in founding Ce De Candy, Inc., makers of Smarties®, America’s favourite candy wafer roll.

He then began selling the candy by delivering it by car to grocery stores throughout the United States. Naming his candy Smarties to promote the value of getting an education, Dee grew the business into a factory in nearby Union, which today is still family-run.

In 1959, Edward Dee moved his operations to Elizabeth, New Jersey, and then again to its current location in Union, New Jersey in 1967. On January 1, 2011, the founder changed the company name to Smarties Candy Company.

Edward also created Ce De Candy, Ltd. in Canada, opening a factory on Queen Street in Toronto in 1963. Later, he moved the operation to a new Canadian facility built in Newmarket, Ontario in 1988 to make more Smarties® and “Rockets®. The Canadian Smarties are imported to the U.S. whenever demand is too high for the New Jersey factory to handle on its own.

In the 1970s, Edward Dee’s two sons, Jonathan and Michael joined the business. They launched new product lines, including sour-flavored Smarties, oversize Smarties, and Smarties Candy Necklaces.

Smarties is currently led by Dee’s granddaughters: sisters Liz Dee and Jessica Dee Sawyer, and their cousin Sarah Dee. Today, the manufacturing process has evolved, utilizing robotic automation technology with forklifts, conveyors and robotic arms to produce the candy more efficiently.
History of Smarties candy