Sam Altshuler, a Russian immigrant who arrived in the United States in 1917, founded
the Annabelle Candy Company in 1950. He learned the art of candy making, and after years of perfecting his recipe, finally achieved success with his Rocky Road candy bar. He named his business the Annabelle Candy Company after his daughter, and began
manufacturing Rocky Road in San Francisco. The product quickly gained popularity throughout the western United States where it has its strongest hold today, and is currently ranked highly among the top best selling chocolate bars on the West Coast.
In 1972, the company purchased Golden Nugget Candy Company, of San Francisco, the makers of
Big Hunk and Look candy bars, and began manufacturing those products. In 1978, Annabelle
acquired of the Cardinet Candy Company which manufactured U-No and
Abba Zaba candy bars.
What started as a family business continues today as the one of the largest independently owned candy bar manufacturers in the United States, producing some of the most popular and traditional West Coast items available on the market today. In
case you are wondering about any connection to the ice cream called
Rocky Road, there is none. Rocky Road ice cream was invented in 1929
by the Dreyer's Ice Cream Company. Almost all ice cream made at the
time was either vanilla, chocolate or strawberry. The
ice cream company picked a flavor name to give folks something to smile about in
the face of the Great Depression. Rocky Road became America's first
blockbuster flavor and remains one of the best-selling flavors of all
time. |
