Consider the humble jelly bean: So small, yet they bring so much color and joy into our lives.
And does America ever love them! In a normal year, over 16 billion beans are made just for the Easter season alone. That’s a whole lotta sugary beans.
Here are 5 other fun facts about the cunning confections:
- Jelly beans were the first confection to be sold by weight
- In the early 1900s, jelly beans were only sold in individual flavors
- Those 16 billion jelly beans manufactured for Easter season could make it 1/3 of the way to the moon
- Jelly beans were originally a Christmas candy until about 1930
- Blueberry bean lovers can thank Ronald Reagan. Jelly Belly needed a blue jelly bean when he was elected, and the blueberry jelly bean was born.
So which are the most popular jelly bean flavors in the U.S. overall? Looking at over 13 years of candy sales data and the results from over 10,000 survey responses, CandyStore.com was able to come to the following conclusion:
The 5 Most Popular Jelly Bean Flavors in the US
Details on the 5 Most Popular Jelly Bean Flavors in the US
#1 Cinnamon Jelly Beans
This spicy red jelly bean flavor is part of a trend of spicy candy noticed a while back. Things have been heating up for cinnamon jelly beans. Sour candy, spicy candy and savory candy are all becoming more popular. In fact, the top three jelly bean flavors do not include a sweet or fruity flavor at all!
#2 Black Licorice Jelly Beans
There’s no denying the immense popularity of black licorice jelly beans. They are polarizing to be sure, but enough people still love them to push them above what was traditionally the top jelly bean flavor in the western hemisphere: cherry.
#3 Buttered Popcorn Jelly Beans
Salty and buttery, Buttered Popcorn jelly beans were still riding high last year, maintaining at #2 after knocking Black Licorice off the top spot three years ago. Both flavors incite strong opinions, positive and negative, but in the end, Buttered Popcorn jelly beans have work to do to if it wants to become the number one jelly bean flavor in America again.
#4 Cherry Jelly Beans
Cherry is like the jelly bean elder. It has been around for a long time and was once the king of jelly bean flavors, reigning for more than 20 years. Maintaining its place on the charts is impressive for a sweet fruity flavor in this new savory/spicy world.
#5 Juicy Pear Jelly Beans
Juicy Pear jelly beans have a achieved a sort of new classic status. They have reached a high level of popularity in a relatively short lifespan. This year they even took over as the #1 flavor in Colorado, Wyoming and Florida.
Speaking of the top jelly bean flavors in individual states, the interactive map below illustrates each states favorite jelly bean flavor. Hover over a state to reveal the top 3 most popular in that state. Know that the results are not specific to any one brand of jelly bean.
Source: CandyStore.com.
Not only do we show you the most popular jelly bean flavors in the US, we also have an interactive map that reveals the top 3 jelly bean flavors in each state!
