These 2 Unique Jelly Bean Flavors Are the Most Controversial in America, According to Jelly Belly

If you think you know which jelly bean flavor reigns supreme in America, you might want to think again. The beloved candy has a colorful history of flavor rivalries, jaw-dropping production numbers and even a presidential fan. And the flavor sitting at the top of the rankings? It had to survive a five-year dethroning before reclaiming its spot. But what’s even more interesting are the flavors that are considered controversial.

The Most Polarizing Beans in the Jar

The Buttered Popcorn flavor carries a big distinction: it is the most controversial jelly bean flavor, according to the Jelly Belly website. You either love it or you hate it. Licorice is the runner-up in that debate. We’re talking black licorice here, the intense and herbaceous kind.

The Buttered Popcorn jelly bean is rich in history. It turned 25 years old in 2014 and is considered the world’s first savory jelly bean flavor.

“When we developed Buttered Popcorn, we didn’t use a lot of sweetness,” Ambrose Lee, director of flavor development, and the food scientist who created the flavor 25 years ago, said, per Jelly Belly. “We had to focus on the buttery flavor and salt. Because it’s a jelly bean, there’s still that touch of sweetness to it. I think many people either like that touch of sweetness to the savory or they reject it”

According to the Jelly Belly website, Very Cherry has held the crown as America’s most popular jelly bean flavor for most of the candy’s modern history. The road to the top, though, hasn’t been smooth.

Very Cherry dominated as the most popular Jelly Belly flavor for two full decades. Then Buttered Popcorn dethroned it in 1998, bumping the cherry classic from its perch.

The cherry comeback arrived in 2003, and Very Cherry has remained the most popular ever since. The Jelly Belly website notes that America’s favorite flavors overall are Very Cherry, Butter Popcorn, Licorice, Juicy Pear and Sizzling Cinnamon.

Among younger fans, the preferences shift. For kids, the most beloved flavors are Cotton Candy, Green Apple and Berry Blue, according to the Jelly Belly website.

That tension between sweet and savory is what splits jelly bean fans into opposing camps.

What Jelly Bean Flavors Your State Prefers

In April 2023, Taste of Home worked with CandyStore.com to go through candy records and find the most popular jelly bean flavors by state. The results painted a vivid map of American candy preferences.

Butter Popcorn led the pack, ranking as the most popular flavor in 10 states: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio and Texas.

Licorice came in second overall. It was a bestseller in Alaska, Colorado, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota and Tennessee.

Cinnamon ranked third as a top seller in Delaware, Kansas, Nevada, Virginia and Wyoming. Watermelon came in fourth with high sales in Alabama, Florida, Hawaii, Oregon and Wisconsin.

Cherry rounded out the top five, with the highest sales in Iowa, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Carolina, Utah and Washington, D.C.

The Numbers Behind the Jelly Beans

The scale of jelly bean production and consumption in America is staggering. According to the Jelly Belly website, 1,680 jelly beans are produced per second. Roughly 15 billion jelly beans are eaten each year.

Put another way: if you laid all those beans end to end, they would wrap around the Earth approximately five times. The amount of Jelly Belly jelly beans made in a single day equals the weight of 24 elephants.

From 8 Flavors to a Presidential Favorite

The original eight Jelly Belly flavors were introduced in 1976: Lemon, Root Beer, Tangerine, Cream Soda, Green Apple, Licorice, Grape and Very Cherry.

The candy found a high-profile fan in former President Ronald Reagan, who loved jelly beans. The White House had to set up a standing order for 720 bags a month — around 306,070 beans.

From that original lineup of eight flavors to billions consumed each year, jelly beans have cemented their place as one of America’s most iconic candies. And the debate over Buttered Popcorn shows no signs of slowing down.

This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.