Visiting my factory is the best fun you will have if you visit California. It's the greatest. And it's not just me saying this. The Jelly Belly Land has received recognition for being not only wonderful by, no less, the Reader's Digest! The editors chose The Jelly Belly Candy Company as the "Best Company Tour" in their May cover story "Best of America for 2005". They liked the tour because it is free, family-friendly, has a broad interest to all ages and a proven track record of hosting large numbers of visitors. Over the years I've received numerous awards and recognition from the press, but this is big time, I'm sure you'll agree. So. When will I see my British fans over there? If you can't get straight over there. Try my virtual tour.

	Step 1: Getting Centered A Jelly Belly jelly bean starts with its center. The juicy center begins as a kettle of hot gooey mix. We add flavors and colors to this mix that will become the very heart of our jelly beans. Aside from the sweet stuff, some of the ingredients we add to make the incredible flavors might include real peanut butter (in Peanut Butter flavor), peach puree (in Peach) and milk chocolate (in Chocolate Pudding). And that's one hallmark of a Jelly Belly jelly bean - we flavor the centers and the shells; traditional jelly beans are flavored only in the shells.
	Step 2: Taking Shape When the candy is cooked to perfection, and since it's still hot liquid, it flows downstairs (sort of like fruit-flavored molten lava). Once downstairs, the liquid candy goes into a machine that drops an itty- bitty amount into individual depressions in large trays. These trays contain a special type of cornstarch. A moldboard makes little Jelly Belly shaped impressions into the starch. The liquid candy is deposited directly into each impression, creating 1,260 Jelly Belly centers in each tray.
	Step 3: Why a Jelly Bean Doesn't Run Down Your Chin Now the trays filled with still jiggly, jelly bean centers then move to drying rooms overnight to cool down and firm up.
.	Step 4: A Short Sugar Shower The next day, the perfectly firm centers are separated from the cornstarch molds, and then sent through a moisture steam bath and a sugar shower. Now we have lightly sugarcoated centers that vaguely resemble jelly beans. The centers are allowed to rest for another 24 to 48 hours before moving on to the next step where they get their jackets or outer shells
	Step 5: The Most Engrossing Part A couple of hundred pounds of Jelly Belly centers are heaped into a copper or steel rotating drum called an "engrossing pan" in order to add the flavored shells. (They are called pans because royal confectioners in 15th century France used large shallow pans to coat nut centers with candy shells.) As the Jelly Belly centers tumble in the engrossing pans, four layers of specially flavored syrups and sugar are added by hand, building the shells around the centers over a two-hour period. When they are finished, they weigh more, or are engrossed. Now we have a candy that tastes like a Jelly Belly jelly bean. Still, there's more ahead for these little guys.
.	Step 6: The Polishing Point The next step in making a Jelly Belly jelly bean is polishing the beans to a bright shiny finish. We want them to show off their colors! About 400 pounds of Jelly Belly jelly beans are poured into yet another set of revolving stainless steel pans. Confectioner's glaze is poured over the beans as they tumble in the pans. The revolving pans allow the jelly beans to roll over each other in a process similar to polishing rocks. The result is an extremely high gloss finish on the surface of each bean. The polished jelly beans are placed into trays and seasoned for two to four days before they receive their crowning touch
	Step 7: Name That Bean Here's where we get our good name. Each shiny and tasty Jelly Belly jelly bean drops into a tray with perfect little pockets for every bean. Meanwhile, our candy makers prepare food coloring, (it's the same stuff used to make marshmallows white) and pour it into a printing machine. The jelly beans, still snug in their pockets, pass right under a very soft roller, which prints the Jelly Belly name on every bean. We even print the white ones! The name on each bean is our guarantee that you're getting genuine Jelly Belly jelly beans.
.	Step 8: Stack 'em, Pack 'em, and Ship 'em Finally, it's time to pack 'em up! The 50 Flavor Jelly Belly Gift Box requires the most complicated packaging steps. Special equipment fills each candy box with 50 flavors of Jelly Belly jelly beans, each flavor in its own compartment. Jelly Belly jelly beans are available in a wide assortment of offerings - from individual bulk flavors to bags, cans, jars and gift boxes. All go into shipping cases of many different sizes. Then, huge trucks pull up to our back door and transport the finished Jelly Belly jelly beans to candy stores, supermarkets, gift shops and gourmet food stores throughout the U.S. and to 35 countries around the world