Bosch Packaging Technology, a company related to Bosch Rexroth, created a new packaging system for Jelly Belly, an iconic American company which grew out of the Goelitz Candy Company, established in 1869 in Illinois. Bosch Packaging Technology gathered a range of companies under its umbrella, including both a German packaging company established in 1861 and Makat Candy Technology GmbH, founded in 1929, which built machinery for making jelly candy, as well as pralines and other sweets.
We have to stop for a moment to image Gustav Goelitz in Illinois in 1869, completely unaware that back in Germany a packaging company is growing into the firm that will one day make such a difference to the candy company Goelitz probably is only beginning to imagine. In 1929, when Makat Candy Technology joins forces with Bosch Packaging, the second generation of Goelitz candy makers are turning out candy corn and chocolate creams on the other side of the world.
By the time Ronald Reagan made Jelly Belly gourmet jelly beans famous in the 1980s, Bosch Packaging Technology was developing as a separate company and revolutionizing pharmaceutical packaging. In 2001 (Jelly Belly) and 2002 (Bosch) the two companies acquired their current business names.
Bosch, along with Bosch Rexroth, spread out around the world, and ended up in the U.S. working with Jelly Belly to build a new packaging system for Jelly Belly gourmet jelly beans that cuts production costs significantly. The new line requires fewer operators than the old line, cutting labor costs by 75%.
Automation makes life sweet.