An aggrieved candy man claims the Jelly Belly Company has been souring his reputation as the creator of the sweet treat.
David Klein says he’s the “original founder” of the Fairfield, Ca.-based business, and the “original inventor” of the company, whose jelly beans come in 50 flavors, ranging from cotton candy to buttered popcorn.
Jelly Belly Company has been “in an effort to rewrite the history and origin of the Jelly Belly jelly bean” by portraying Klein as a “fake,” he claims in a Manhattan lawsuit.
Klein says the company damaged his reputation and that he’s lost business opportunities in the nation’s more than $200 million jelly bean market.
Klein’s legal claim, first filed in state court and recently moved to Manhattan Federal court, isn’t worth a hill of beans, said Jelly Belly lawyers who want the case tossed.
The litigation is “the latest in a long series of public relations stunts” from Klein, who “continues to complain that he has not received the recognition he believes he is owed related to Jelly Belly’s Jelly Belly® brand of jelly beans,” according to court papers.
The business now known as Jelly Belly began as the Herman Goelitz Candy Company, a more than century old family affair founded by Gustav Goelitz, the company said.
Klein formulated the idea for a new fangled jelly bean in the 1970s, and reportedly asked the Goelitz Candy Company to produce them, according to a 2011 feature in the Los Angeles Times. He then sold them out of a corner of Fosselman’s Ice Cream in Alhambra, California.
The first flavors were Very Cherry, Tangerine, Lemon, Green Apple, Grape Jelly, Licorice, Root Beer, and Cream Soda.
In 1980, Klein and his partner sold their interest in the Jelly Belly to Goelitz for $5 million.
Klein could not immediately be reached for comment. Attorneys for the Jelly Bean Candy Company did not return messages.