Watch how the PEZ factory makes its iconic candies

What kid can’t resist the allure of a PEZ candy dispenser? A toy in the shape of your favorite cartoon characters, from Mickey Mouse to Minions, that also gives you candy? Genius!

While Austria is originally started manufacturing the treat, in the U.S. it’s manufactured in Orange, Conn. Every day over 12 million PEZ candies are produced at the facility. Now, watch how they get made!

A silo that contains 70,000 pounds of granulated sugar is brought to the factory. It’s then broken down into finer sediment to allow for color and flavor absorption — a finer sugar is easier to compress. The sugar is dispensed into a massive bowl that’s then transported to the Glatt Granulate Mixer. 

Next, fruit flavoring and colors are added to create unique mixes. After about 50 minutes, the mixture is poured into a rotator that can hold 1,200 pounds of mix. Now the compression begins. Using 3,000 pounds of force, the mix is shaped into its final form.

The PEZ tablets are taken to the wrapping room and placed in a hopper that sorts them by the dozen. Once wrapped, each PEZ candy roll is led to an assembly line to receive its dispenser and final protective packaging. 

Eduard Haas III invented PEZ as a fine peppermint candy in 1927. He took each letter of its name from the German word “Pfferfferminz.” The P-E-Z is taken from the first, last and center letter of the word. The candy came to the U.S. in 1952, and by 1957 the first PEZ character head dispenser, of a Halloween Witch, was invented. 

If you enjoyed this story, check out this bread recipe that only requires two ingredients!

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