BETHLEHEM, Pa. (WLVT) - For Peeps fans, Halloween, Christmas and Valentine’s Day won’t be quite as sweet this time around.
"Certainly it seems like a lot of people were a little upset about that but we’re doing what we can," explains Just Born Quality Confections' Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Matt Pye, "Thankfully, people will get their Peeps fix at Easter time and then we’ll be back for Halloween 2021."
Bethlehem based Just Born Quality Confections, the makers of Peeps, Mike and Ike and Hot Tamales say, seasonal favorites won’t fill shelves this fall or winter in an attempt to secure production of their famous Easter marshmallow treats in 2021.
"Unfortunately, given the six weeks we were out, that typically would be the time when we would be making Halloween (treats). People are talking about Halloween now and we tend to see it in stores at the end of summer. But when you think about it, we end up shipping Halloween as early as the beginning of summer and we’re already making those in the end of spring," Pye tells PBS39 News Tonight, "So when we came out of a six week hiatus, we knew that we weren’t going to be able to make everything. We had some tough choices. The focus was on our everyday candy brands, as well as Easter, since that’s our largest, seasonal or season for us as a company."
The coronavirus pandemic led the company to make safety and manufacturing changes that suspended operations at the essential business this past spring. Limited production resumed in mid-May but new protocols suspended seasonal production and packaging.
"In order to protect the health and safety of our people, we made the tough choice to close our doors when we didn't have to. We were the only major candy company to do that. We’re a mid-size candy company, the 10th largest in the United States. And so we closed our doors for six weeks," says Pye, "Everybody got paid during that time which was a great blessing from our owners. During that time things were changed to make sure we could deal with the reality of COVID so between acquiring PPE, working with LVHN to make sure we had nurses on site for temperature checks, different shift changes to change the times when people could come into the building."
But even with some production paused, the family owned business that has operated in the Lehigh Valley since 1923 says it is continuing its commitment to their local community.
Pye says, "The only way our business is going to thrive is if the community is thriving, especially during a pandemic. So early on, we’ve donated a lot of candy to health professionals who appreciated it especially during the Easter season, as a way to say thank you. We’ve donated a lot of gloves, N95 masks..."
Just Born is also partnering with the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley to invest $100,000 to strengthen safety-net services for communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and a grant program to help non-profits provide food and housing assistance.