Necco Wafers are a sugar-based candy, sold in rolls of variously-flavored thin disks. First produced in 1847, they became the namesake and core product of the now-defunct New England Confectionery Company (Necco), which operated near Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest American candy brand still in production (although Good & Plenty is the oldest continually produced American candy brand).
Production of the candy was suspended in July 2018 when Necco went into bankruptcy, but returned in May 2020 after purchase of the brand and production equipment by the Spangler Candy Company.
Each roll of Necco Wafers contains eight flavors: lemon (yellow), lime (green), orange (orange), clove (purple), cinnamon (white), wintergreen (pink), licorice (black), and chocolate (brown). The ingredients in Necco Wafers are sugar, corn syrup, gelatin, gums, colorings, and flavorings.
History
Necco Wafers date back to 1847. Oliver Chase, an English immigrant, invented a lozenge cutting machine with which he produced the wafers. At the time of the Civil War, these were called "hub wafers" and were carried by Union soldiers. In 1901, Chase and Company merged with two other companies to incorporate the New England Confectionery Company (Necco). By 1912, the wafers were being advertised as "Necco Wafers", a name they have carried since. In 2018, the future of Necco Wafers was unclear after the Necco company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Round Hill Investments purchased the company out of bankruptcy for $17.3 million in May 2018, but then abruptly ended operations at Necco on July 24, 2018, citing "sanitation issues" it claimed it was previously unaware of.
Round Hill sold off various Necco lines to other candy companies. Necco Wafers (which retains the Necco name and logo), Sweethearts, and Canada Mints, as well as the equipment used to manufacture them, were sold to the Spangler Candy Company of Bryan, Ohio. In September 2018, Spangler announced plans to return the Necco Wafer to the market, initially giving a target date of November 2019. In May 2020, Spangler said that Necco Wafers were back in production at a facility in Mexico and ready for release.
Changes in formula
In 2009, Necco changed the formula for its Necco Wafers. Artificial colors and flavors were eliminated. The candy was made softer through the addition of glycerine. The lime flavor was removed due to difficulties in creating an all-natural green coloring, resulting in a seven-flavor Necco Wafer roll. According to Corby Kummer of The Atlantic the new cinnamon flavor was "less like Red Hots" and the new lemon, "less like paper candy dots and more like lemon meringue pie filling."
Chocolate Necco Wafers are a single-flavor roll composed completely of the Chocolate wafers.
Necco Sour Wafers are in a roll of six tart flavors: Watermelon, Wildberry Grape, Sour Apple, Lemon, Extreme Tangerine, and Blue Raspberry. As of June 2018, they were not shown on Necco's varieties website, but could still be found in some stores.
Candy cane flavored rolls are rare and were sold during the holiday season.
Gallery
<gallery widths="160px" heights="160px">
File:Necco wafer ad-trolley trips thru new england-1916 p13.png|1916 advertisement — "Nine Flavors, Separate or Assorted."
File:Necco Wafers - Multi-flavor roll.jpg|Standard roll of assorted flavor Necco Wafers
File:Necco factory water tower.jpg|The water tower of the Necco facility on Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts, painted in 1996 to resemble a roll of Necco Wafers
File:NECCO Memorial Sculpture.jpg|Necco Wafer Memorial Sculpture, 1998, cast bronze, located in University Park at MIT near the former Necco factory in Cambridge, Massachusetts
</gallery>
See also
- List of confectionery brands