- CEO
- Ellen R. Gordon
- Full Time Employees
- 2,100
- Sector
- Consumer Defensive
- Industry
- Food Confectioners
- Address
- 7401 South Cicero Avenue Chicago IL United States of America 60629
- IPO Date
- Apr 9, 2010
- Business
- Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. manufactures and sells a wide range of confectionery products worldwide. The company produces chewy candies including Tootsie Rolls, Tootsie Fruit Rolls and Frooties; lollipops such as Tootsie Pops, Tootsie Mini Pops, Child’s Play, Caramel Apple Pops, Charms Blow Pops and Charms Mini Pops; chocolate mints like Andes Mints and Junior Mints; chocolate-covered cherries under the Cella’s brand; nougat bars including Charleston Chew; gumdrops and licorice such as Dots and Crows; caramels like Sugar Daddy and Sugar Babies; bubble gum including Dubble Bubble, Thrills, Razzles and Cry Baby; cotton candy under Fluffy Stuff; and other novelty items such as Nik-L-Nip juice confections, Candy Blox, Polar Mint, Junior Caramels and Wack-O-Wax. Tootsie Roll Industries sells these brands to wholesale distributors, supermarkets, variety stores, dollar stores, chain grocers, drug chains, discount chains, cooperative grocery associations, mass merchandisers, warehouse and membership club stores, vending machine operators, e-commerce merchants, the United States military and fund-raising organizations; it distributes primarily in the United States, Canada, Mexico and more than 75 other countries. Founded in 1896 and headquartered at 7401 South Cicero Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, the company operates manufacturing facilities in Chicago; Cambridge, Massachusetts through subsidiary Cambridge Brands; Mexico City; and Spain.
In response to rising cocoa and chocolate costs that contributed to a 6.3% sales decline to $715.5 million in fiscal 2024, Tootsie Roll Industries shifts emphasis to non-chocolate lines and pursues sales price increases alongside potential product size adjustments; its subsidiary Charms invests $97.7 million to expand the Blow Pops manufacturing facility as part of a broader $100 million plant expansion plan over seven years to boost capacity, efficiency and quality. The company repurchased and retired $13.5 million of shares while paying $25.5 million in cash dividends during 2024, maintaining conservative capital management with openness to future acquisitions funded internally or via borrowings.