# Necco may soon shut down **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 14, 2018, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necco-may-soon-shut-down/812431 "2018-04-14T22:46:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necco-may-soon-shut-down/812431/61 "2018-04-23T22:41:58Z")
**schiff** schiff **schiff** Huh, they do. Don’t know why I’ve never noticed that before. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necco-may-soon-shut-down/812431/62 "2018-04-24T05:36:30Z")
I must agree with the others stating the various flavors as a plus for Neccos. Lime candy of any type is really getting hard to find in the U.S. these days. Clove- where else can you get clove candy except in some spice gumdrops and jelly beans? The lemon and orange are nice, sweet flavors reminiscent of ice cream and sherbet. I’d hate to see these go the way of so many other old candy brands. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necco-may-soon-shut-down/812431/63 "2018-04-26T20:43:49Z")
I got my order from Amazon (through a third party), and it came with a letter saying that the company is shutting down and if I want to place another order, I should do it now. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necco-may-soon-shut-down/812431/64 "2018-04-26T21:26:18Z")
My second case arrived. I guess I’ll be able to eat them for a little longer. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necco-may-soon-shut-down/812431/65 "2018-05-23T22:13:24Z")
Woo hoo! Necco was sold to a company that plans to continue to make the wafers and conversation hearts, at least for a while. > **[Maker of candy hearts and Necco Wafers sold at auction](https://www.boston.com/news/business/2018/05/23/necco-sale/)** > > The 171-year-old candy maker known for its chalky Necco Wafers and those little inscribed hearts that are everywhere on Valentine's Day is up for grabs in bankruptcy court > [@](#): > > Maker of candy hearts and Necco Wafers sold at auction > The Ohio-based Spangler Candy Co. had the winning $18.83 million bid for the New England Confectionery Co., or Necco, at a federal bankruptcy auction in Boston. > … Bidders were mostly interested in the sugar candies, so sky bars, mary janes, etc. are less likely to stick around. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necco-may-soon-shut-down/812431/66 "2018-05-24T00:09:10Z")
Woo! And it’s a candy company I’ve actually heard of, too. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necco-may-soon-shut-down/812431/67 "2018-06-01T20:59:43Z")
[Update](http://www.bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2018/06/necco_deal_falls_apart_second_highest_bidder_wins): The deal with Spangler fell apart, so Necco will now go the second highest bidder, Round Hill Investments, the company that bought up Hostess and is currently making Twinkies. They also own Pabst Blue Ribbon and Ghirardelli. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necco-may-soon-shut-down/812431/68 "2018-06-01T21:16:24Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > [Update](http://www.bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2018/06/necco_deal_falls_apart_second_highest_bidder_wins): The deal with Spangler fell apart, so Necco will now go the second highest bidder, Round Hill Investments, the company that bought up Hostess and is currently making Twinkies. They also own Pabst Blue Ribbon and Ghirardelli. Good on 'em for covering all the major food groups. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pdhenry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pdhenry/32/5561_2.png) [@pdhenry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pdhenry)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necco-may-soon-shut-down/812431/69 "2018-06-01T21:31:50Z")
[Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghirardelli_Chocolate_Company) says Ghirardelli is a wholly owned subsidiary of Swiss chocolate maker Lindt and Sprüngli. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2018, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necco-may-soon-shut-down/812431/70 "2018-06-02T15:33:57Z")
> [@pdhenry](#): > > [Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghirardelli_Chocolate_Company) says Ghirardelli is a wholly owned subsidiary of Swiss chocolate maker Lindt and Sprüngli. Interesting. Dozens of articles mention that Round Hill owns Ghirardelli, but it’s possible that they just invested for a short time and then turned around and sold it to Lindt. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2018, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necco-may-soon-shut-down/812431/71 "2018-06-02T17:30:54Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I ordered two cases shortly after this thread popped up. (From different vendors, in case one flaked.) I’m hopeful I will soon own **a lifetime supply** of delicious necco wafers. > > Yes, I really do like them. I admit they resemble hard, flavored chalk, but I used to eat chalk as a kid, too. It’s a little frightening that no one is disputing the belief that Necco wafers will survive decades of storage with little change to taste or texture. - bolding mine ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2018, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necco-may-soon-shut-down/812431/72 "2018-06-04T04:08:03Z")
Why? They are mostly sugar. Sugar keeps indefinitely if it’s dry. I was sort of kidding, I expect the flavors will fade over time, and i don’t anticipate those wafers lasting for my lifetime (in party because I will eat them.) But I do expect they will last a very long time with minimal deterioration. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necco-may-soon-shut-down/812431/73 "2018-07-28T07:23:32Z")
[Oh No! America’s Worst Candy Has Been Discontinued](http://www.cracked.com/article_25777_oh-no21-americas-worst-candy-has-been-discontinued.html)! > [@](#): > > But then the company was bought for a whopping $17.3 million by C. Dean Metropoulos, the sweet-toothed billionaire who had previously saved Twinkies from extinction. And if you wonder why a man with enough taste to save Twinkies would do the same for Necco Wafers, so did he! This Tuesday, barely two months after saving the candy maker, Metropoulos pulled a reverse Willy Wonka (not the sex act) and shut it all down. All 230 factory workers were told to clear out their stuff by Friday. Meanwhile, the brands themselves were sold off to an anonymous rival candy maker, clearly overestimating the popularity of the upcoming “Bring Backo My Necco” social media campaign. > > Not that Necco Wafers will ever be forgotten – not because they were so tasty, but because they’re something better: a gosh-darn American tradition. They were manufactured by the New England Confectionery Company (hence “NECCO”), the Boston candy makers who claimed they were the “oldest continuously operating candy company” in the land, even providing Civil War soldiers with Necco Wafers. And that’s just the thing you want to snack on in our age of sugary excess: a candy that even a syphilitic soldier who just saw his brother die of a musket wound would call the most disappointing thing about his day. > > Still, in this world, we need every bit of sugary goodness we can get, so let’s take a moment to mourn this passing, and acknowledge that nothing so sweet and innocent could have ever overstayed its welcome. Farewell, Necco Wafers. At least you died the way you lived: tossed away after someone realized they accidentally bought Necco Wafers. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necco-may-soon-shut-down/812431/74 "2018-07-28T13:34:11Z")
And Clark Bars too!!! [http://http://www.wtae.com/article/clark-bars-necco-candy-company-shut-down/22542029](http://http://www.wtae.com/article/clark-bars-necco-candy-company-shut-down/22542029) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necco-may-soon-shut-down/812431/75 "2018-07-28T14:23:53Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [Oh No! America’s Worst Candy Has Been Discontinued](http://www.cracked.com/article_25777_oh-no21-americas-worst-candy-has-been-discontinued.html)! 😃 Remind me not to let that guy write my eulogy. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necco-may-soon-shut-down/812431/76 "2018-07-28T16:29:06Z")
> **[Necco candy factory shuts down abruptly after company is sold again - The...](https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2018/07/24/necco-shuts-down-abruptly-sold/0NOi9G7MLIWXy9aZnOM6qJ/story.html)** > [@Boston Globe Article](#): > > “Round Hill Investments was very excited to acquire Necco’s historic brands and to be part of their national resurgence,” the company said. “After careful engagement and consideration, however, the firm decided to sell the brands to another national confection manufacturer and today announced the closure of the operations in Revere, Massachusetts.” > > The company, which is operating Necco under the affiliate name Sweetheart Candy Co. LLC, did not identify Necco’s new owner or say whether candy production would resume. Necco is the country’s oldest continuously operating candy company. As someone who enjoys Necco Wafers, I hope the company that bought the brand will make Necco Wafers somewhere. Although I fear they will change the old-fashioned spice flavors that make the candy so different with boring fruit flavors, or even the horrible “green apple” flavor that some many candy companies are picking up. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necco-may-soon-shut-down/812431/77 "2018-07-28T20:31:02Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I expect the flavors will fade over time… Well, I love them, but to be honest, the flavors faded long before they ever got to the store… I stockpiled a case of them, but I’m not worried because I think they’re pre-aged anyways. (It’s like “Oh, no, this Kefir/Kombucha/Miso is past the Sell By date.” “Who cares, it’s already gone bad. That’s its thing!”) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necco-may-soon-shut-down/812431/78 "2018-07-28T21:48:31Z")
They also manufactured the disgustingly vaguely peanut flavored wood paste that is [Mary Jane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Jane_(candy)) candy. Dear Og, did they employ any humans with taste buds??? “Hey boss, I just mixed some sugar into this sawdust, added some random viscous fluid and poured them into molds shaped like squirrels; I call them Orange Drops because hey why not amirite?” “Excellent! People will _love_ them! Start production immediately!” ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2018, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necco-may-soon-shut-down/812431/79 "2018-07-29T00:13:08Z")
If anyone in the Triangle area (North Carolina) is looking for Sky Bars, Lolli and Pop’s at the Streets at Southpoint in Durham has a decent selection. They didn’t appear to have any Necco Wafers though. I didn’t check for Mary Jane’s, because who does? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2018, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necco-may-soon-shut-down/812431/80 "2018-07-29T01:00:39Z")
I’m happy to report (after my mad rush to buy up all the Neccos I could) that our local sources have all dried up. Except a retro candy shop that targets aging hipsters; they have them for almost $3 a roll. Hey, maybe I could sell 'em on the street: Yes, folks, you’re all tired of juicy candies with all that annoying flavor! But I give you the chalkiness you lack, I give you hope, I give you…The Necco! Four rolls for a Hamilton, line forms to the left, little Crippled Orphan Billy will take your cash, credit card or Apple Pay. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necco-may-soon-shut-down/812431.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necco-may-soon-shut-down/812431.md?page=5)