Smarties by the Billions

Sarah Dee, Liz Dee, and Jessica Dee Sawyer have one sweet job. Literally! The three women run the Smarties Candy Company, which has been making the famous Halloween treat for almost 70 years. In 2015, the company made 2 billion of the colorful candy rolls.

Sarah Dee, Liz Dee, and Jessica Dee Sawyer have one sweet job. Literally! The three women run the Smarties Candy Company. They have which has been making the famous Halloween treat for almost 70 years. In 2015, the company made 2 billion of the colorful candy rolls.

Courtesy of the Dee Family

Sarah Dee, Liz Dee, and Jessica Dee Sawyer run the family-owned candy company.

The women aren’t just co-workers—they’re family! Liz and Jessica are sisters. Sarah is their cousin. Their grandfather, Edward Dee, founded the company in 1949.

Growing up in a candy-making family, the girls spent a lot of time surrounded by sweets. “There were always a ton of Smarties at our house,” says Jessica, who handles sales at the company. “There still are.”

Today, the women work at the factory in Union, New Jersey, where much of the candy is made. (A second factory is located in Ontario, Canada.) The smell of sugar overpowers you as soon as you walk inside, says Jessica. “We come home smelling like Smarties.”

The women aren't just co-workers. They're family! Liz and Jessica are sisters. Sarah is their cousin. Their grandfather, Edward Dee, founded the company in 1949.

Growing up in a candy-making family, the girls spent a lot of time surrounded by sweets. "There were always a ton of Smarties at our house," says Jessica. She handles sales at the company. "There still are."

Today, the women work at the factory in Union, New Jersey. That's where much of the candy is made. (A second factory is located in Ontario, Canada.) The smell of sugar overpowers you as soon as you walk inside, says Jessica. "We come home smelling like Smarties."

To make the candy, more than 50,000 pounds of sugar are delivered to the factory each day. Machines press the sugar mixture into colored tablets. Then the tablets roll down the assembly line, where they’re dropped into buckets according to their color.

Eventually, the colored tablets are tossed into a giant tub known as a hopper. Each hopper can hold up to 700 pounds of candy. “It looks like a rainbow,” says Sarah, who handles production.

To make the candy, more than 50,000 pounds of sugar are delivered to the factory each day. Machines press the sugar mixture into colored tablets. Then the tablets roll down the assembly line . Then they're dropped into buckets according to their color.

Eventually, the colored tablets are tossed into a giant tub. It's called a hopper. Each hopper can hold up to 700 pounds of candy. "It looks like a rainbow," says Sarah. She handles production.

Bryan Anselm/Redux

Machines run 24 hours a day at the two Smarties factories.

Finally, 15 tablets are randomly packaged into plastic wrappers. “You never know how many of each color you’re going to get in a roll,” says Liz. She handles communications and safety for the company.

Despite the sweet results, making all that candy takes a lot of effort. The two factories operate year-round to produce enough Smarties for their customers.

The women appreciate working together. “We’re one big family,” says Liz, referencing the entire Smarties team. “Everyone really takes a lot of pride working at Smarties.”

Finally, 15 tablets are randomly packaged into plastic wrappers. "You never know how many of each color you're going to get in a roll," says Liz. She handles communications and safety for the company.

Despite the sweet results, making all that candy takes a lot of effort. The two factories operate year-round. That's so they can produce enough Smarties for their customers.

The women appreciate working together. "We're one big family," says Liz. She means the the entire Smarties team. "Everyone really takes a lot of pride working at Smarties."

One Smarties candy roll has 15 tablets. How many tablets are in 10 rolls? Write and solve an equation.

Let’s say a store has 100 rolls of candy. How many tablets are in 100 rolls?

Is your answer in part A greater or less than your answer in part B? By how much?

The place value chart above shows about how many candy rolls are produced each minute at one factory. Circle the place value that is 100 times greater than the tens place in the chart.

If there are 60 candy rolls in 1 pound, write an expression for how many pounds of candy are produced in 1 minute.

In one day, the New Jersey factory produces 70,000 pounds of Smarties. Rewrite this number in unit form.

If the machines operate for 24 hours each day, write an expression for how many pounds of candy are produced each hour.

On a busy day during Halloween season, the factory can ship up to 100,000 pounds of candy. Express this number as a product of 10 × 10.

Trucks that ship the candy can each hold up to 50,000 pounds of candy. How many trucks are needed to ship 100,000 pounds of candy? Justify your answer with an equation.

The chart above shows the number of candy rolls produced each day in the New Jersey factory. Circle the place value that is 100 times greater than the thousands place.