David Klein (businessman)

David Klein was the developer of the Jelly Belly brand of jelly beans, His contract manufacturer was the Herman Goelitz Candy Company .^[1]

Klein was born in Syracuse, New York. He moved to California at the age of three. Klein eventually attended the University of California, Los Angeles where he studied economics. Klein then went on to obtain a law degree, but did not take the bar exam.

In 1976, Klein lived in Temple City and worked as a distributor for Garvey Nut & Company. He came up with the idea for a new type of jelly bean--later called "Jelly Belly"--and asked The Herman Goelitz Candy Company to make a batch for him from recipes the Goelitz company created and developed.^[2]

Klein then rented a corner of Fossleman's Ice Cream in Alhambra to sell the new type of jelly beans.^[3] The first flavors were Very Cherry, Tangerine, Lemon, Green Apple, Grape Jelly, Licorice, Root Beer, and Cream Soda. Total sales for the first seven-day period was $44. The product was selling for $2 per pound, which was considered a very high price at the time. Klein convinced the Associated Press to write a story, arranging for friends and family to act as customers. The article caused sales to spike.^[4]

In 1980, Klein and his partner sold their interest in the Jelly Belly to The Herman Goelitz Candy Company, for $5 million, to be paid out over 20 years.^[5] Klein and his partner each received about $10,000 per month for 20 years, in exchange for their share of the Jelly Belly brand, including the trademark of that name.^[6]