Herman G. Rowland

Herman G. Rowland

Class of 1989

Herman G. Rowland, Sr. was born in 1941 and is Chairman of the Board of Jelly Belly Candy Co. headquartered in Fairfield, CA. The firm manufactures Jelly Belly jelly beans and 70 Confections by Jelly Belly gourmet candies.

Herm is the great-grandson of Gustav Goelitz, a German immigrant who launched the family’s candymaking tradition in this country. Gustav and his brother, Albert, began selling handmade confections in 1869 from a storefront and then a horse-drawn cart in Belleville, Illinois.

In 1976, Herm accepted a challenge from California entrepreneur David Klein to develop a jelly bean made with “natural” ingredients for flavorings. Jelly Belly beans became an instant success.

Herm was honored for lifetime achievement in 1988 with the prestigious Kettle Award and honored with the Henry J. Bornhofft Memorial Award from the Retail Confectioners International organization in 1987. In 2010, he was made an Honorary Base Commander at Travis Air Force Base.

He has four children, Herm Jr., Lisa Brasher, Rebecca Joffer and Christopher and 11 grandchildren. Three of his children, three of his grandchildren, and one son-in-law have positions within the company and are learning the candy business from the ground up &emdash; just as Herm did.