You might know it as Nebraska’s favorite chocolate, assumingly started by a professional confectioner, but Baker’s Candies got its start after an engineer in the aerospace industry found himself without a job.
Founder Kevin Baker worked for the U.S. Department of Defense during the end of the Vietnam War through the Cold War. He mass-produced missiles, but when the Cold War ended, those missiles were never fired, and his job was no longer needed.
In the early 1980s, in the midst of a recession, most industries were looking to reduce costs and workforce. The exception – the chocolate industry.
“Business booms in the chocolate industry, whenever people get depressed,” said Todd Baker, son of Kevin and current Chief Executive Officer. “And it just so happens that during a recession, depressed people bought more chocolate.”
Given Kevin’s engineering background, he started designing, inventing and building mass production equipment that would change the way gourmet chocolate was manufactured.
In 1987, when Todd was just six years old, Kevin told the family they were going to start a chocolate factory in Greenwood, Nebraska.
“We literally had no recipe for chocolate. We had a manufacturing process that was more efficient than anybody had ever created before. And then we had the unique advantage of being able to tailor make all of our recipes to work on that equipment,” Todd said.
Fast forward 40 years, the Baker family has stuck with its core values and crafted Nebraska’s favorite chocolate.
“We’re going to proudly make it right here in Nebraska,” Todd said. “And we’re not going to care if we ever sell it anywhere but Nebraska, knowing that if you can just make Nebraska’s chocolate, you can make something that will provide for a good family business here in the state.”
By the end of 2024, Baker’s Candies will manufacture about 50 million chocolate meltaways that are shipped to all 50 states and dozens of countries.
In Part One of a three-part series, learn more about the Baker’s Candies story on the Building Nebraska podcast, powered by the Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.
