Your Stories

Hannah

"I recently purchased a box of 1kg jelly belly's from my local store T.K Max. I was convinced that these gourmet original jelly belly's are fake. I think this because there is no small print of the name jelly belly on any sweet, also on the package it states that there are 38 flavours however, there are really 50. I am very disappointed knowing my favourite sweet has been copied and sold as a fraud. I am extremely angry as well as disappointed. I would be very grateful if you could please email me back and give me a solution to this problem please"

Jelly Belly reply...
There is no immediate solution Hannah, other than to look out all the time for the Jelly Belly name. It's the only bean that counts!

Sally from Dovercourt

"I went to Mr Simms olde fashioned sweet shop they told me that they only had jelly belly beans loose so I spent £4.00 on loose ones , when I got home they were the jelly bean factory ones. I love my jelly belly beans and have been buying them since I first went to the US about 20 years ago and get them now when ever I have the opportunity, there are no shops local to me that sell them, so I was really angry. I will not be able to take them back because I don't visit Colchester very often so have lost 4 quid but most of all I didn't get to have my yummy ORIGINAL beans"

Jelly Belly reply...
It's too bad Sally, but you've definitely Bean Conned. When in doubt, you can always shop with us online

Taja & Dave from London

"We went to our local Blockbusters and got our usual dvds. We also got a tub of what we thought to be jelly Belly Jelly beans only to find out that they were The Jelly Bean factory and definitely didn't taste as good. WE HAD BEAN CONNED! how can they get away with looking almost exactly the same as you??"

Jelly Belly reply...
Something we keep asking ourselves Taja & Dave!

Elycia from Stevenage

"It seems Julian Graves are being conned again! I asked my boyfriend to buy me a jar of jelly belly's from Julian Graves for our anniversary, when I went on your website and read about how to tell the difference, it matched perfectly to my jelly beans sitting pitifully in my hand! Oh dear!"

Jelly Belly reply...
Make sure you don't have an anniversary of Bean Conned Elycia!

Lynne from Oxford

"I sought out Jelly Bellies for my husband as he loves them. I bought a huge big container thinking I was being a GREAT wife only to have him open them and find they were Jelly bean factory and I hadn't noticed as the logo is similar. I was gutted."

Jelly Belly reply...
You are a GREAT wife Lynne. But you were conned!

Eliot from Crouch End

"I went to Bon Bon in Wood Green shopping city and got a pick and mix when I saw what thought were jelly belly beans and said to the cashier are these jelly belly bean and she said um... yes! they are... so got a whole big scoop of them and and were very expensive but I didn't mind because I love jelly belly beans and I tried one and it tasted like absolute rubbish I was outraged!!!"

Jelly Belly reply...
You've been very unlucky indeed because not only were you conned but so it seems was the shop assistant. We get very angry when we hear stories like this because we know that some stores are either knowingly or unknowingly selling another inferior brand of jelly bean and calling them Jelly Belly jelly beans. I am not surprised you were outraged. So are we! We are doing everything we can to stop this sort of thing and are grateful to you for letting us know what happened to you. Thank you very much

Adrian from Harrogate

"Marks and Spencer's are selling small packs of what they claim to be jelly belly beans The beans don't have your logo printed on them nor does the packaging, but it says in the small print that they are manufactured by the jelly belly candy company. Have I been conned?"

Jelly Belly reply...
No you've not bean conned. Jelly Belly Candy Company were asked by M&S to create a jelly bean that was free from artificial colours, preservatives and flavours and that is what we did for them. It took a very long time to get the recipes right but it was worth it because they have proved so successful that M&S asked us to create a free-from Sour jelly bean as well. The reason the Jelly Belly name is not printed on each of these beans is that the ingredients used for reproducing the logo contains marshmallow which as you know is not a natural flavour. Jelly Belly is to launch the Beanaturals® range of jelly beans later this year and they will be available nationwide.

Mathew from Walsall

"We usually go to Selfridges in The Bull Ring Birmingham for our "Jelly Belly" fix. I love the fact we can chose our favourites (Cinnamon Variety) plus a handful of others just to split the same flavour up. However this "nightmare" happened due to an occurrence of many random factors. Firstly I were working bank holiday Monday and when I have to work either bank holiday Mondays or weekends I feel I don’t have a weekend. My job for that week took 2 men yet my colleague was off on the Tuesday after so I decided id take a day off too. So I'm now waking up happy Tuesday morning knowing I've got a whole day to pretend this day is Bank holiday Monday yet only 3 days left after this to the weekend. As you can imagine I'm feeling very upbeat. However the day was to get worse after a day out with my family (Girlfriend and Son) to Bridgenorth. I feel the whole elation of a day off must have gotten to me as we entered the shop after seeing these "Jelly Beans" waving at me from the shop w window. As you may of guessed by now this £5 tub of "Jelly Beans" were not "Jelly Belly Beans" I would of gone back into the shop yet it weren’t until on the way home when we cracked open the tub we noticed our error. We did against our better judgement try them after all we had paid good money for them. The flavours were unrecognisable; we like to guess the flavour without looking at the beans, these tasted like Grass, Bricks and Feet among other undesirable flavours. Luckily enough I'm working near Birmingham on Wednesday and am planning a trip to the big "Jelly Belly Bull" (if you’ve ever been you'll know what I mean) Thanks for your time. Mat"

Jelly Belly reply...
That's a pretty disappointing outcome for a day off Mat. It's bad enough Bean Conned without having a holiday ruined. See you at the REALLY REAL Jelly Belly next time!

Jane from Henley

"I went into our corner shop and they were selling masses of jelly beans but the beans were disgusting and they tasted really horrific! I was appalled that our usually trustworthy corner shop had befallen a nasty trick from some retailers! I was very shocked and will only buy online now."

Jelly Belly reply...
It's worth just keeping your eyes open for REAL Jelly Belly retailers Jane. They are the classy ones!

Jenni from Essex

"Bought some jelly bellys on ebay, when I got them most were JellyBellys, but a good proportion were just naf any old beans. The Seller insisted shed got them direct from jelly belly, even if she had, she's made her own additions. she said I could send them back, but I'm not prepared to pay out to send them back, a overlooking on the sellers part should not cost me!"

Jelly Belly reply...
That sounds like a partial Bean Conned story which is absolutely not acceptable Jenni! Thanks for letting us know.

Andrew from Wallasey

"Myself and my six year old son was enjoying a box of your jelly belly sweets which I purchased from Debenhams in Chester. I paid £22 for a large box of them. However I must say how up set and disappointed I was to my surprise my six year old son pulled out a jelly bean with a small plastic tube like thing hanging out of it. As you can imagine thank god he noticed it because god knows what could of happened. I feel let down and disappointed with this and annoyed that this got through your quality control. I will be forwarding this sweet on to you after I have taken a photo of it for my reference . I seriously thing you need to look at your controls as imagine if it was a younger child eating your sweets"

Jelly Belly reply...
These obviously weren't Jelly Belly jelly beans! Debenhams stock the "other" variety!

Ryan from Leeds

"Well, in shops like Debenhams and Home Bargins they are selling jelly beans called jelly beans but they are not as nice as yours so I wont buy them!"

Jelly Belly reply...
A man of class Ryan!

Lisa from Paignton

"Hi there, I love these beans, and was wondering where is my nearest shop to Paignton please? (They do the rubbish copies that try and look like your logo called jelly beans in Julian Graves here but not yours...)"

Jelly Belly reply...
Well spotted Lisa - nice to see you had not bean conned. Find your nearest Jelly Belly Stockist

Usman from Birmingham

"I purchased a 100g tube of 'Jelly Belly' beans from the well know high street store Debenhams. The label on the product states 'The Jelly Bean Factory' and I took this to be synonymous with the famous brand Jelly Belly. Reading your website, an original Jelly Belly bean must have the logo on each bean, which mine do not. My purchase, a product of Aran Candy-Ireland, i assume is legitimate though misleading."

Jelly Belly reply...
Thank you for writing. Jelly Belly jelly beans have not served Debenhams for nearly three years but as you have discovered they do sell The Jelly Bean Factory brand. You are correct that, unfortunately JBF's logo is incredibly similar to ours - much to our chagrin. We try to draw attention as much as we can to the two products as confusion has led to a great deal of disappointment with consumers including our receiving many complaints that should be directed to the Jelly Bean Factory. Yours is the second in the last few hours!

There are quite a few Jelly Belly jelly bean stockists in Birmingham including a dazzling display in Selfridges. I hope you'll be able to purchase the real thing next time.

Kali from Birmingham

"I brought myself a jar of JELLY BELLY beans which were the same logo. When I inspected the label after tasting one of the Jelly Belly beans I saw that it was not identical to the real Jelly Belly logo. I was very upset and the fake jelly beans tasted too sweet!"

Jelly Belly reply...
Poor you. Other jelly beans just aren't the same as Jelly Belly. It is a terrible feeling to discover one has "bean conned". The time to check the logo is before you get to hand your money over the shop counter. Congratulations all the same, on having the good taste to recognise the real thing!

Smita from Huddersfield

"I really love Jelly Belly but my sister is a bigger fan. I'm just gonna start talking about why do the Jelly Bean Factory copy you, they just dont have the standard. Once i brought a 400g tub of Jelly Bean Factory and thought it was Jelly Belly but when I got home I saw the sign and saw it was Jelly Bean Factory. I even asked the women at the shop where are the Jelly Bellys and she mislead me! Can you tell them to change their logo?"

Jelly Belly reply...
Thank you writing. We can't get the Jelly Bean Factory to change their logo for lots of different reasons although recently they were told through a court ruling to alter their colours from Yellow and Red - which are obviously the same as Jelly Belly. Just like you, thousands of people feel they have bean conned in this way, which is why we advise them to look very carefully for our one and only wonderful jelly beans.

From Simon

"I am a big fan of Jelly Belly beans and whilst staying in The Jurys Doyle hotel at Great Russell Street in London purchased a jar of Jelly Belly beans using the brand name and "The original gourmet jelly bean," slogan. These are made by Natures way snacks and didn’t have the same flavours or logo on each bean. The product comes from www.natureswaysnacks.com. I was very disappointed and am assuming this company is not licensed to make Jelly Belly or use the slogan. If they are then I’d personally say they are diluting your brand as the product is clearly inferior. I’d be interested in your comments."

Jelly Belly reply...
We have contacted Nature’s Way and are attempting to have the offending products removed from hotels throughout the UK. If you purchase a jar wrapped with a black and gold have definitely bean conned!

From Stephen

"I have today purchased some jelly beans in a 125grm tube the company The Jelly Bean Factory manufacturing in Ireland is this same as yourselves?

If so, they don’t taste the same!"

Jelly Belly reply...
We wrote to Stephen and gave him the sad news that he had bean conned, and how not to be again!

From Jacquie - I was conned too!

"I just wanted to say I received a big jar of beans, which I had asked for my birthday/Xmas, which turned out to be

ARGH!

NOT what I wanted!

My mum purchased them by mistake from Debenhams, she thought they were JELLY BELLY beans (I have previously bought them from Harvey Nichols, Edinburgh)

I have the receipt and will be taking them back and telling Debenhmas how disappointed I am that they could sell these - my mum is very embarassed and feels cheated too!"

Jelly Belly reply...
Until we tell you otherwise, Debenhams do NOT stock Jelly Belly jelly beans although you may see some of our branded products near to the FAKES ie Jelly Belly soaps. Brand confusion or what?

From Peter - Watermelons missing!

"Just a bit of a complaint and if there is anything can be done, I purchased a tub of jelly beans for my girlfriend in our local Debenhams for Christmas and there wasn't a single watermelon in it, which is her favourite, so I got a bit of stick! Is there anything that you can do for me to get some watermelon beans to get back in her good books as her birthday is coming up shortly."

Jelly Belly reply...
It’s true. Jelly Belly watermelon flavour is one of the greats!

From Felicity - 900g jar of jelly beans from Debenhams missing almost a third of its beans!

"I bought a 900g sealed jar of beans from Debenhams in Perth and on getting it home notice that it doesn't look full. I opened the jar and weighed the beans and there is only about 650g worth of beans."

Jelly Belly reply...
Of course, poor Felicity had bean conned.

From Sasha

"I Just wondered whether my jelly beans were from the jelly belly factory - they say 'the jelly bean factory' but is that you or not? It contains a marshmallow flavour which i thought you did not do."

Jelly Belly reply...
Another case of confusion!

From Gemma (12)

"I love Jelly Belly... My fave one is toasted marshmallow! Where do you get the flavour from? Its so cool! I have been a victim of the jelly scam. Yuck! They taste horrid! Luckily, I love Jelly Belly so much that i did not lose hope on the sweets. Lots of love from the no.1 jelly belly consumer."

Jelly Belly reply...
Thanks Gemma! Keep the Jelly Belly jelly bean flag flying!

From PG, from Woodbridge

"I brought some jelly beans from my village shop (Costcutter) thinking that they were Jelly Belly but actually turned out to be "The Jelly Bean Factory" which is such a fake you wont believe it. I tried them and they did not have the crunchy outer and the soft inner, instead some were soggy and others hard like a rock! Tell you what they really give jellybeans a bad name. But not only that they were all really weird shapes some a blob others a teardrop. But i have to hand it to harrrods in london - you ought to see the jelly belly counter - they have every flavour! And so many jars and gifts as well."

From Karen-Jo, Edinburgh

"I bought jelly beans from Tesco which were called The Jelly Bean Factory. I thought they were Jelly Belly beans because they looked very similar but it turns out they aren't since they don't have Jelly Belly written on them. Is this a con or is it just my fault for not looking more closely and realizing they weren't jelly belly beans?"

From Red, Lowestoft

"I recently fancied some juicy Jelly Beans, so i went to my local Asda, and bought a 100g tube. As i was eating them, i decided to go on your Jelly Belly website, and was reading about Bean Conned. It was then that I realised, that i was not eating the geniune beans. The ones i had bought were made by the Jelly Bean Factory - Aran Candy, and only offered 36 flavours. I was very dissappointed and will double check what i buy in the future."

From David, Bracknell

"I'm not entirely sure this is a part of the con but I am sat here with a large tub of jelly beans from the Jelly Bean Factory and i have just noticed nothing is written on any of the beans and it says there is only 36 flavors please let me know if i should do anything cos I got them from where i work."

From Nick, Royston

"I also got conned recently. I asked for Jelly Belly jelly beans in a shop and when I got home I discovered a very inferior brand that were all sugar and no fruit. I also had a lot of trouble getting sours when on holiday in Las Vegas recently. The only place I found them was the airport! I'm preserving my last packet for a rainy day."

From ND, Harrow

"I bought a tube of beans from Debenhams and it had the logo on the tube but not on the bean, it tasted like sick."

From Joni, Plymouth

"I brought a tub of jelly beans but was suprised when i counted only 27 different flavours from a large tub. There was supposed to be 50. I feel conned from the company and wish i could have had the delight of experiencing all of the flavours."

Lisa from Cardiff

"I have just bought my jelly beans and got home to discover they are the The Jelly Bean Factory - they looked similar and I feel so disappointed. I can't take them back - so i have to keep them, but the quality just isnt the same. A warning to everyone to double check any jelly belly bean purchases when getting their bean fixes! So disappointed."

Lisa from Stockholm

"I friend of mine recently travelled to London shopping, and I asked her to bring me some Jelly Belly jelly beans, since we don't have em here in Sweden. Well, she brought home Jelly Beans from the Jelly Bean Factory. Much disappointed, they taste like soap, and "cooking" em' makes it taste even more foul. ;( Make those thugs at The Jelly Bean Factory suffer! ARRGH!"

Jelly Belly reply...
We were so sorry to receive these and many other emails from people who feel they have "bean conned". The trouble is, that The Jelly Bean Factory can very easily be mistakened for Jelly Belly if it is purchased in a hurry. This is why we put the warning on our website for people to ensure they look for the Jelly Belly logo when they want to buy our beans. If it's any comfort to you, Jelly Belly Candy Company have asked Jelly Bean Factory to change the colours of their packaging so it looks less like Jelly Belly and hopefully a new style of branding will eventually be in the shops. This will help people distinguish between real Jelly Belly jelly beans and the fakes. Obviously, if you are happy with Jelly Bean Factory product that is another matter. We are only seeking to remind people to be careful: if it's Jelly Belly jelly beans they want, they must look for the logo, the taste and of course the cool!

Emily from Biggleswade

"Do Marks & Spencer sell your Jelly Belly beans as they are called Jelly Belly Beans? Are they made by you and just repackaged? I haven't bought any yet as i don't want to be disappointed."

Jelly Belly reply...
You won't be disappointed. We created a special kind of Jelly Belly jelly bean for M&S and it is their own recipe for people who don't want to eat any artificial colours or flavours. In fact, next year we will be bringing out a new, similar brand of Jelly Belly called Beanaturals. M&S beans have the Jelly Belly logo and they are definitely ours. But a different recipe. Absolutely delicious though. I am sure you'll love them.

Claire from Bournemouth

"My mother was conned into buying Jelly Bean Factory beans instead of your own delicious ones. She bought a large jar from Whittards and divided them between the family for Christmas and we were very disappointed. Although the Jelly Bean Factory now uses a purple logo on their website, those sold in Whittards still displayed the old more misleading logo that is like your own. In future we will buy check the packaging more closely to avoid another mistake."

Jelly Belly reply...
We're so sorry that your mother has Bean Conned - it's such a disappointment to be short changed in this way - especially as she probably thought she was giving you all a great treat. Try using the Stockist Search to find the closes Jelly Belly stockists to you.

Neil from Preston

"Same story every year! I get conned by my wife who insists on buying inferior beans for our christmas stocking! I've tried the lt, gourmet, factory, pretend ones - they're all the same - suagr lumps with no real flavour. Thank goodness I was in charge of the stocking this year, a lovely 50 variety box is just the job. Thanks Jelly Belly"

Jelly Belly reply...
Well done Neil. A bean star!

Andrew from Cheadle

"I would like to inform you about my Christmas present, which wasn't the Original Jelly Belly beans. I recently received some jelly beans from my sister for Christmas, for which I thought were the actual Jelly Belly beans, but having looking into this further, I realised + discovered, they were actually, not the original Jelly Belly beans, as they do not have the white writing with Jelly Belly on them, + they are not the Jelly Belly shape either, so I was left a little disappointed + deflated, as it was a really, really great big tub she brought me too.One of the reasons I found out was, because before Christmas my dad got me some proper Jelly Belly Beans from, Hamley's in London, and they were the real Jelly Belly Beans, in original packaging. The ones in the big tub (1.4kgs), were in a slightly different packaging and called, The Jelly Bean Factory, not Jelly Belly. I was left most disappointed. I don't know which retailer my sister got them from, as they were a present, and I didn't want to tell her that they were not the original, proper Jelly Belly Beans, as I didn't wa nt her to think I sounded ungrateful, if you understand my situation."

Jelly Belly reply...
We're so sorry that your sister has Bean Conned. Maybe it would be better if your Dad said something to her because obviously she wouldn't want to make the same mistake again. Try using the Stockist Search to find the closes Jelly Belly stockists to you. And cheer up - no one gets conned twice!