Russell Stover Candies

Russell Stover Chocolates, Inc. is an American manufacturer of candy, chocolate, and confections. Founded by Russell Stover, an American chemist and entrepreneur, and his wife Clara Stover in 1923, it is an independent subsidiary of Swiss chocolatier Lindt & Sprüngli. The Kansas City, Missouri-based company was acquired from the Ward family in July 2014 for $1.6 billion.[2][3]

Russell Stover Chocolates
TypeSubsidiary[1]
IndustryChocolate confections
Founded1923 (1923)
Denver, Colorado, U.S.
FoundersRussell William Stover
Clara Stover
Headquarters
Kansas City, Missouri
,
U.S.
Number of locations
Manufacturing - Iola, Kansas; Abilene, Kansas; Corsicana, Texas
ProductsChocolate Confections
OwnerLindt & Sprüngli
ParentLindt & Sprüngli
SubsidiariesWhitman's and Pangburn's Chocolates
Websitewww.russellstover.com
1922 photo of Eskimo Pie inventor Christian Kent Nelson, who partnered with Russell Stover to develop the product
Russell Stover headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri

History

In 1921, Russell Stover and his partner at the time, Eskimo Pie inventor Iowa schoolteacher Christian Kent Nelson, created a chocolate-dipped ice cream sandwich. The product proved successful, and was licensed to manufacturers to produce it.[4]

When other companies soon began to release similar chocolate-dipped ice cream products, Russell Stover was nearly forced out of business. The Stovers sold their share of the company for $25,000 and moved to Denver, Colorado. In 1923, Russell and Clara created a new company from their home, "Mrs. Stover's Bungalow Candies", which packaged and sold boxed chocolates. In 1943 it was renamed Russell Stover Candies.[5]

Expansion

Louis Ward and a partner bought the company $7.5 million in 1960. He served as the company's chairman and president until 1993, when he retired after suffering a stroke. His sons, Scott H. and Thomas Ward, took over the business.[6] The company expanded its chocolate brands by acquiring Whitman's that year and Pangburn's in 1999.[5][7]

Acquisition by Lindt & Sprüngli and restructuring

Swiss chocolate maker Lindt bought Russell Stover Chocolates from the Ward family on July 14, 2014.[8] Integrating Russell Stover Chocolates into Lindt group resulted in a structural reorganization of the company; this included tripling its marketing team and shifting focus away from seasonal products.[9]

Attention was also given to developing its offering of sugar-free products.[9] Stevia, a natural sweetener, replaced the artificial sweetener sucralose by 2019, and the packaging was redesigned to attract a wider audience, hoping to reverse a three-year trend of declining sales.[10][11] In 2020, Russell Stover Chocolates was the top sugar-free chocolate company in the United States.[12]

Spurred by strong sales in 2019, Russell Stover Chocolates announced plans to expand its Iola, Kansas, Abilene, Kansas, and Corsicana, Texas facilities. It also announced that its facility in Montrose, Colorado and several retail stores and distribution centers across the US would close in 2021.[13]

2020 - present

The company was among those that participated in a July 2020 virtual job fair hosted by the Kansas public workforce program, designed to allow jobseekers impacted by the COVID pandemic to find employment while still practicing social distancing measures.[14]

In September of 2020 the company laid off 300 employees, due to the effects of the pandemic.[15] The closure of the Montrose plant eliminated around 300 jobs.[16]

In April 2021, Russell Stover entered an agreement with Topeka Correctional Facility to form a work release program, hiring 150 inmates to work at their Iola and Abilene facilities in Kansas. This happened as part of a general response from US employers to a perceived labor shortage related to the pandemic.[17]

References
  1. Smith, Aaron (July 14, 2014). "Lindt & Sprüngli to take over Russell Stover". CNNMoney. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  2. Bray, Chad (14 July 2014). "Swiss Chocolate Maker Lindt Will Buy Russell Stover Candies". DealBook. Archived from the original on 6 October 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  3. Davis, Mark (March 10, 2015). "Lindt & Sprüngli paid $1.6 billion for Russell Stover". The Kansas City Star. Archived from the original on August 22, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  4. Duan, Charles (20 October 2015). "Ice Cream Patent Headache". Slate. Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  5. "Russell Stover Chocolates Timeline - Russell Stover Chocolates". www.russellstover.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  6. Freudenheim, Milt (1996-02-13). "Louis Ward, 76, Manufacturer Built Fortune in Candy Business". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2017-02-12. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  7. "Brands That I Love". 1 March 2003. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  8. Bray, Chad (14 July 2014). "Swiss Chocolate Maker Lindt Will Buy Russell Stover Candies". DealBook. Archived from the original on 6 October 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  9. Pacyniak, Bernie. "Russell Stover: How the chocolate company is evolving since being bought by Lindt". www.candyindustry.com. Archived from the original on 2021-09-25. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  10. Shoup, Mary Ellen. "Russell Stover corrects 'brand communication problem', brings sales growth to sugar-free chocolate product". foodnavigator-usa.com. Archived from the original on 2022-06-25. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  11. Mohan, Anne Marie (2019-03-24). "Russell Stover redesign reverses three-year sales decline". Packaging World. Archived from the original on 2021-09-25. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  12. Lindell, Crystal. "2020 State of the Confectionery Industry: Better-for-you, sugar-free entice consumers amid COVID-19". www.candyindustry.com. Archived from the original on 2021-09-25. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  13. Collins, Leslie (January 14, 2020). "Russell Stover's new box of chocolates: expansion, hiring, job cuts". www.bizjournals.com. American City Business Journals. Archived from the original on 2023-04-24. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  14. Motter, Sarah. "KANSASWORKS Job Fair connects Kansans with jobs despite COVID-19 pandemic". Archived from the original on 2021-10-21. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  15. Svaldi, Aldo (2020-06-03). "Russell Stover will close its Montrose plant ahead of schedule due to COVID-19". The Denver Post. Archived from the original on 2021-09-25. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  16. Tubbs, Justin. "Sale finalized on former Russell Stover candy shop; future of property in the air". Montrose Daily Press. Archived from the original on 2021-09-25. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  17. Sainato, Michael (2021-07-20). "Companies claim there's a labor shortage. Their solution? Prisoners". The Guardian.com. Archived from the original on 2021-09-25. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
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