Just Born Quality Confections said seasonal items under its Peeps, Mike and Ike and Hot Tamales brands won’t return to store shelves until next fall, allowing the manufacturer to focus on production for next Easter and everyday items.
In March, Just Born suspended production at its facilities in Philadelphia and Bethlehem, Pa. to clean and sanitize its production areas, offices and corporate headquarters. The company resumed limited production in May after making extensive changes to ensure the safety of its employees. Among the changes are daily temperature checks, staggered start times, appropriate PPE, frequent hand washing, enhanced routine cleaning, and re-engineered rooms, traffic flow and production processes for 6-foot social distancing.
“This situation resulted in us having to make the difficult decision to forego production of our seasonal candies for Halloween, Christmas and Valentine’s Day in order to focus on meeting the expected overwhelming demand for Peeps for next Easter season, as well as our everyday candies,” Just Born said in a statement.
The company expects to resume offering seasonal shapes and packaging for Halloween 2021.
“We look forward to being a part of seasonal traditions again next year,” the company said. “We have been bringing sweetness to people’s lives since 1923, and we hope to continue to do so for many years to come.”