Store Orders 30 Tons of Jumbo Jelly Beans

WAKARUSA, Ind. – Thirty tons of jumbo jelly beans would be enough to satisfy even the sweetest tooth. That’s exactly what the owners of The Dime Store in northern Indiana are hoping.

The Wakarusa store ordered the tonnage for its 35th bean season – far more than the 5 tons of the 1 1/2-inch candies it ordered in 1998.

The store in the town about 25 miles southeast of South Bend began selling jumbo jelly beans in conjunction with the Wakarusa Maple Syrup Festival 35 years ago. That first year, the store ordered 100 pounds and sold them all.

“When we first started selling jelly beans by the ton, people probably thought we had rocks in our head,” store co-owner Deb McNally told The Truth of Elkhart for a Tuesday story.

And now with a half-ton of new stone-shaped beans called Jelly Stones, McNally said she guesses they’re out to prove it.

“It’s a jelly bean that looks like a rock,” said her husband and co-owner Mac McNally.

The uniqueness of this year’s sweet treat stands above even the store’s chocolate covered cherry beans they introduced a few years ago, he said.

The new multicolored stones come in six colors and flavors: blue, wintergreen; brown, cinnamon; yellow, pineapple; white, citrus; reddish, cherry; and black, licorice.