NCET Biz Tips: Making Reno a Little Sweeter!

Our “Biggest Little City in the World” is famous for its shining neon lights, casinos, tourism, and distribution hubs.  Did you know that Reno has a state-of-the-art candy production facility boasting a customer base stretching from coast-to-coast and encompassing more than eight international countries?  That chocolate confection company is Kimmie Candy, and it continues to thrive right here in Reno.

The driving force behind Kimmie Candy is Joe Dutra, who began his career as a farmer in Sacramento.  Joe’s entrepreneurial spirit prompted him to change gears in 1987.  He launched Westec Incorporated, an agricultural consulting and international seed business that has grown to become the leading seller of non-GMO hybrid corn seed and alfalfa seed in Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Middle East and Northern Africa.

Now it’s the year 2000, and Joe happens upon a new challenge that takes him in a completely different direction – Kimmie Candy.  Joe believed there was an untapped market for panned, chocolate confections.  With the creation of nationally branded original Sunbursts® and ChocoRocks®, his instincts were proven correct, and manufacturing began in South Korea.

It's now 2008.  With an expansion in mind and Joe’s desire to create local U.S. jobs, he brought the entire operation onshore to Reno.  Joe viewed Reno as ideal for 1) quality of life and 2) a distribution hub where 62 million people can be reached by truck within two days from Reno.  Kimmie Candy now had its roots firmly planted in the U.S.

Today Kimmie Candy has 43 employees.  The entire team has demonstrated they are very good at product innovation and making great-tasting scrumptious candies.

Three success stories stand out.  Early on, Kimmie Candy realized that they needed to differentiate themselves from other candy companies.  So they started experimenting with “better-for-you” candies.  Kimmie Candy infused proteins in their candies and sold the product to a private label nutritional company.  It sold well in all of the GMC’s in the U.S.  Now they are developing four new lines of protein candies.

In May 2016, Kimmie Candy received a rare honor – a Presidential E-Award for Excellence in Exporting.  Kimmie Candy was presented the award by Penny Pritzker, the Secretary of Commerce. Kimmie Candy became the first candy company ever to win the award and only the 9th Nevada company to win the award in 60 years. 

Finally, in July 2017, Kimmie Candy was honored to represent the State of Nevada at the first Made in America Expo at the White House.

Business challenges?  Kimmie Candy has them like most manufacturing businesses.  Labor, supply chain issues, and escalating ingredient costs contribute to a challenging business environment where operations flexibility is paramount.  Business costs are monitored constantly.  The creation of strategic partnerships with suppliers and customers is actively pursued.

Now the question that always gets asked.  How did the Kimmie Candy brand name come about?  Word has it that it happened over a martini.  As Joe Dutra recalls, he was going to call the company Gimmie Candy.  An importer associate of Joe’s mentioned that he named most things after friends and family.  Why not the company?  The associate’s name happened to be Kim.  Joe said OK, and Kimmie Candy was born.

Kimmie Candy is proud of many things.  They have unique, tasty candies desired by consumers around the world.  But the company’s humble beginnings are what stand out.

You could say that Kimmie Candy is a personification of the American Dream.  An individual who started as a farmer took a leap of faith to create a candy manufacturing company from scratch.  Joe had the grit and perseverance to see his dream come to fruition.  It shows people anyone can achieve their dream if passionate and have a bit of luck along the way.

To use a catchphrase by Jackie Gleason, “How sweet it is!”

Want to learn more about Kimmie Candy?  Sign up for NCET’s Tech Wednesday on January 12 from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. for an onsite presentation and tour with networking from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.  More information at https://www.ncet.org/ncet-event-calendar/kimmie-candy

Bill Leonard is VP of Communications for NCET (www.NCET.org) and a freelance content writer of lead-generating case studies, white papers, and blogs that help innovative businesses GROW at linkedin.com/in/billleonardusa.  NCET produces educational and networking events to help people explore business and technology.