Visit Jelly Belly, Pleasant Prairie WI: Take the Tour, Taste the Candy

I tasted grass clippings, dirt and soap.  For fun, I added earwax, canned dog food and skunk spray.  I avoided the really gross flavors like vomit and barf.  What’s the difference between the two?  One is more acidic, I was told, but I wasn’t about to find out for myself.  These are all flavors from the Jelly Belly BeanBoozled® collection or the Harry PotterTM Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor BeansTM collection, but you can also taste regular Jelly Belly flavors like Very Cherry, the most popular, coconut, buttered popcorn, or any of the 50 original flavors, plus more, like chocolate dipped cherry or orange.  I’m getting ahead of myself, though.  When you visit the Jelly Belly visitor center in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, you should first take the warehouse tour.

Jelly Belly warehouse

Jelly Belly Warehouse Tour

Hop aboard the Jelly Belly Express Train for a trip around the perimeter of the warehouse, where you’ll stop at video stations along the way for a virtual tour of the Jelly Belly factory in California.

Jelly Belly Express

Besides videos of the Jelly Belly manufacturing process, you’ll see mosaics hanging around the warehouse made of Jelly Belly jelly beans created by artist Peter Rocha.  Each mosaic takes about 10,000 jelly beans and six months to create.  Many of the mosaics are portraits, like that of Elvis and Princess Di.  The first mosaic created was a portrait of President Ronald Reagan, who helped propel Jelly Belly jelly beans, his favorite candy, into popularity during his 1980 presidential election campaign.  Other subjects include landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and Chicago’s Art Institute.

Mosaic of Art Institute Lion made from Jelly Belly jelly beans

 

Jelly Belly Candy Store

At the end of the tour you’ll get a complimentary sample bag of Jelly Belly jelly beans, but you won’t be able to stop there.  You’ll want to browse the candy store, starting with the Sample Bar, where you can taste every flavor of jelly bean plus lots of other candies, including gummy candies and chocolates.  My favorite is the dark chocolate nonpareils.

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You can purchase all of the candies there, of course, including Belly Flops®, beans that aren’t perfect enough in size or shape to be called a Jelly Belly, and lots of Jelly Belly apparel and novelty items.

Jelly Belly outlet store, Pleasant Prairie WIOnly in the Jelly Belly Candy Stores in Wisconsin and in California will you be able to purchase fresh fudge, made on the premises, in flavors like Coconut Crème, Raspberry Chocolate, and English Toffee.  Fudge flavors rotate regularly.

Fudge in Jelly Belly outlet store

Hungry for something more substantial than candy?  The Jelly Belly Snack Bar offers snacks and light lunch items like soup, sandwiches and pizza.

Jelly Belly snack barI walked out of the Jelly Belly visitor center loaded down with two bags full of goodies that I couldn’t resist.  No skunk, earwax or dogfood flavors, though.

If you visit the Jelly Belly warehouse

The Jelly Belly visitor center is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily (with some holiday exceptions) and is located at 10100 Jelly Belly Lane in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, off of Interstate 94, Exit 347.  Check the web site for exact directions.

Disclosure:

My visit to the Jelly Belly warehouse was hosted by the Kenosha Area Convention and Visitors Bureau and Jelly Belly. However, all opinions in this article are my own.

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2 thoughts on “Visit Jelly Belly, Pleasant Prairie WI: Take the Tour, Taste the Candy

  • November 12, 2013 at 12:52 pm
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    We visited the same Jelly Belly location last year – great (free) attraction for kids.

    Did you explore Kenosha at all?

    Reply
    • November 12, 2013 at 5:59 pm
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      Yes, Adam, we spent the weekend in Kenosha. Ate at some fun diners (see my Frank’s Diner post), visited museums (the Civil War museum is great) and SHOPPED. We rode around the downtown area on the streetcar, too. There’s plenty more to do, but we ran out of time! A great excuse to go back, maybe in the summer when we can enjoy the lake and other outdoor activities.https://midwestwanderer.com/wp-admin/edit-comments.php#comments-form

      Reply

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