Farley's & Sathers Candy Company, Inc.

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Farley's & Sathers Candy Company, Inc. is a candy manufacturer originally founded in 1996 as Favorite Brands International (a merger under the umbrella of both Farley's Candy Company and Sathers Candy Company).

John Sather, a local grocer in Round Lake, Minnesota, established the Sather Company in 1936. John's son, Kenneth, joined the business after graduation from high school and continued in the business, after his tour of duty during World War II.

By the early-1960s, Sathers distributed products to the five state Midwest region. The territory grew and product lines and operations changed to include the addition of a nut roasting operation in the 1960’s. With the addition of telemarketing in 1967, the customer territory expanded to eleven Midwest states. With this increase, Sathers added tractor trailer units to its trucking fleet.

The company continued to expand. In 1972, Sathers went nationwide with product distribution. From 1983 to 1994, Sathers expansion continued with the company purchasing five companies to increase the packaging and distribution of product. This now included three manufacturing facilities and two additional distribution centers.

In 1870, Gunther Farley and two of his brothers founded Gunther Chocolate Company. Gunther Chocolate Company merged with another smaller candy company which was started by another member of the Farley family in 1891, creating Farley Candy Company. Farley manufactured a full line of chocolate candy, as well as gummi, starch, jell, and candy coated peanut items.

The demand for Farley products required more space. In 1988, Farley’s established a packaging and distribution center on the West Coast as well as leasing a warehouse distribution center in Bedford Park, Illinois. With four candy manufacturing plants, Farley Candy Company had the second largest bag candy manufacturing facility in the United States.

Sathers Candy Company and Farley Candy Company merged under the umbrella of Favorite Brands International in 1996. In 1999, Nabisco purchased Favorite Brands and Kraft Foods purchased Nabisco in 2000. Kraft Foods sold assets from Farley's Candy Company and Sathers Candy Company in 2002 to Catterton Partners, forming Farley's & Sathers Candy Company, Inc.

Now an independent company, Farley's & Sathers Candy Company, Inc. operates three manufacturing facilities, three packaging and distribution centers, and a trucking fleet consisting of 90 trucks. Many orders are delivered on Sather Trucking Company’s fleet of trucks. The company’s headquarters and Sather Trucking are located in the packaging and distribution center in Round Lake, Minnesota. A manufacturing, packaging and distribution center is also located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Facilities in Creston, Iowa, and Reynosa, Mexico, manufacture and package products, as well. These facilities combined employ approximately 1,000 people.

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