Interview with Matt Pye
Photos Courtesy of Just Born Quality Confections

Matt Pye, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Just Born Quality Confections, discusses why his company is still flourishing after one hundred years.

Tell us about your company’s origins and history:

Sam Born grew up in Russia, learned how to make French chocolates in France, and then immigrated to the United States to pursue his dream to make candy. He opened a small retail store and factory in Brooklyn in 1923 and produced a fresh line of candy daily, declaring the candies “Just Born,” which is where our name comes from. The company relocated to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, during the height of the Great Depression in 1932. The family bought a vacant printing facility where the Saturday Evening Post had been printed and found an ample labor force thanks to Bethlehem Steel. We have been part of the Lehigh Valley ever since.

How has the company grown over the past century?

Just Born has grown from a small operation making all kinds of candy to becoming the tenth-largest candy company with four iconic brands that consumers know and love–Peeps, Mike and Ike, Hot Tamales, and Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews. We now employ almost six hundred associates, who produce and sell our brands primarily from our headquarters and original factory in Bethlehem and our Peanut Chews factory in Philadelphia.

Your company has survived World War II, the Great Depression, and a few other recessions. What makes your products so timelessly loved?

Our candies are beloved by so many because they are trusted, having been around for a long time: Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews since 1917, Mike and Ike since 1940, Hot Tamales since 1950, and Peeps since 1953.

In addition, our fans have an emotional connection with our brands, particularly with Peeps. Many folks grew up receiving Peeps in their Easter baskets and now make Peeps a special part of Easter celebrations for their children and families. Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews has a strong following in Philly and New York because it has been a year-round regional treat for over one hundred years. Hot Tamales is America’s number one cinnamon-flavored candy, and Mike and Ike has become our largest brand with a multitude of fruit flavors that appeal to a wide audience.

What have been the biggest challenges in Just Born’s history? How did your team overcome them?

Moving the family business from Brooklyn to Bethlehem during the height of the Depression was a risky move. But it was the right one for the long term, as the company has grown from a regional manufacturer of a variety of candies to a producer of well-known national brands.

Similarly, closing our doors for six weeks at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic was a risky move, but it was done because the company’s number one priority is the safety and health of our associates. Our associates appreciated getting paid during this time, and, thankfully, our retailers respected this tough decision. We came out of the temporary shutdown stronger than ever with loyal associates and our brands in high demand.

How many family members have run the business? How important is the family aspect to your company’s success?

Seven family members have run the business over the last one hundred years. Sam Born was our founder. Born’s brothers-in-law, Irv and Jack Shaffer, joined the business shortly after the retail store opened. Sam’s son Bob joined the company in 1946 and was instrumental in automating the Peeps production process. Bob’s son Ross and Jack’s son David joined the business in 1978 and became co-presidents in 1992. David Shaffer and his son-in-law Gardner “Chip” Jett are the current co-CEOs.

Remaining family owned and the family commitment to giving back to our community in a variety of ways has allowed Just Born to thrive. The only way our company can thrive is if our community is thriving. We have built a culture of respect, and our purpose is to bring sweetness to people’s lives.

Why focus on perfecting a few core products versus expanding your products exponentially, as other confectionary companies have done?

Our focus on our four brands has allowed us to invest and grow them into some of America’s most beloved brands. Our challenge is in how we educate people about our family company and history outside our local market because we know people today care as much about the culture and story behind the products they buy as they do about the products themselves. We have a great story to tell, and we have an opportunity to continue to connect our family company with our brands.

Would you elaborate on your company’s stated goal of “bringing sweetness to people’s lives”?

“Bringing sweetness to people’s lives” is about more than just the great candy we make. It’s about bringing sweetness to people in a variety of ways, including being an employer of choice, volunteering in the community, providing grants to local nonprofits, producing in a landfill-free facility, and being a good corporate citizen. How we do things is just as important as what we do. We strive to be a highly respected confectioner with beloved brands and enthusiastic fans. Being respectful in everything we do is our core value and has not changed over the years.

How does Just Born account for consistent monthly demand versus seasonal demand?

We have great production associates who are organized by the different products we make: chewy candy, marshmallow candy, and chocolate candy. The everyday business is easier to track and produce based on history, new distribution, promotions, and regular everyday sales.

Peeps are truly seasonal, with most of the sales occurring at Easter. Once the dedicated marshmallow team finishes production for Easter (usually every January), they move right into producing Halloween, then Christmas, and then Easter for the following year. Peeps candy is so unique and in such high demand that we work with our retailers to get early forecasts to be able to produce the product year-round and then sell it during three seasonal periods.

How do you decide between having only tried-and-true offerings versus expanding them to a wider audience of consumers?

We think we’ve struck a perfect balance of providing fans with the well-known and loved classics that they’ve seen for generations while still coming up with refreshing new ways for fans to enjoy our candies. We do a lot of research and testing to develop new products and flavors that fit with the brand equities and expand the fan base.

With Peeps, for example, the timeless yellow chicks have been our best seller for years; however, we have been able to dramatically grow the brand through flavors that have more appeal to a younger audience like Party Cake, Sour Watermelon, and Cotton Candy. We have also developed products that are more indulgent for adults to enjoy, such as our Peeps Delights, which are classic individual Peeps dipped in chocolate.

Your company doesn’t just make confections; it makes quality confections. Tell us about what quality has meant to your reputation and success:

There’s a reason the word quality is in our company name, Just Born Quality Confections. We are committed to consistently producing products of the highest quality and will continue to focus on cutting-edge product innovation. We take great pride in knowing that our candies are a major part of many people’s family traditions and holiday celebrations, which is why quality is so important to us. Families have shared our confections with loved ones for generations, and people often say that our treats evoke happy memories and feelings of nostalgia. Though it may seem simple, our candies mean more to our fans, which is why we aim to provide the highest-quality product possible.

Just Born is celebrating its one-hundredth anniversary in 2023. What does that mean to the family?

Not many family businesses survive beyond the second generation, so to be celebrating one hundred years with the third generation leading the way is amazing. Staying true to our family values, our engaged associates, and our iconic brands are at the core of our success, so the focus of our one-hundredth anniversary will be to honor and celebrate our associates, stakeholders, and community, which have all played a major role in the success of our company.

Going forward, we are committed to remaining family owned, making our brands more widely available, and bringing sweetness to people’s lives.

For more info, visit justborn.com