photo by Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph Tyler Candy Company general manager Ronald Sumicek explains how a machine squeezes peppermint candies down to be cut into small pieces at the Tyler Candy Company Thursday.

nside the Tyler Candy Company, a small team of 25 meticulously mix ingredients in a 400-gallon tank, boil down sugar, sort through fragmented candy pieces and ship out their concoctions to people across the country. Among its most famous candies is the reddish-colored and disk shaped peanut patty — an old fashioned Southern favorite brimming with red-skinned peanuts.

In addition to the peanut patties, they make peanut brittle, divinity, peanut and pecan logs and coconut bars. Peanut patties and the pecan logs are their biggest sellers.

Since 2007, Connie and Ronald Shumicek have operated the company. They’re only the third owners, buying the business from Tony Wahl, who bought the candy factory from the original owner, Anthony George.

The Shumiceks are winding down from a busy season, as regular customers and new fans have stocked up for the holidays. It’s the season when people are craving the sugar-laced treats and use them as stocking stuffers or for gift baskets.

“August, September, October and half of November, we’re running full blast,” Shumicek said.

When walking into the decades-old 32,000 square-foot building, there are wafts of peppermint and dry roasted peanuts.

There’s plenty of activity inside the factory beginning at 3:30 a.m. Small cylinder-shaped pots circle an assembly line as the syrupy peanuty mixture boils at about 250 degrees for 30 minutes before being poured into molds.

Sugar heats up in high temperatures in a large vacuum before being molded shaped into 100-pound blocks of fragrant hot candy and then melded into twisted sticks of peppermint.

In the packing room, a few women quickly place patty after patty in plastic before they are sealed and boxed for shipment.

They make 22,000 peanut patties per day — more than 8 million each year.

It takes a lot of peanuts, syrup and sugar — the main ingredients in most of the candies — to mix up a day’s worth of batches. A huge tank holds up to 85,000 pounds of syrup, kept at 85 degrees. Peanuts come in by the truckload, with the crew using about one to two pallets per day. Each pallet has 20 110-pound bags.

Also inside is a full-fledged shop with a mechanic and tools to keep its old machines, including one that’s been there since the 1950s, working properly.

They ship their candy all across the country, but most of their customers come from the surrounding states. These sugary and indulgent treats are a staple at convenience stores and grocery stores, including Brookshire’s and Kroger’s.

 

PRESERVING A TRADITION

George started the Tyler Candy Company in 1941 and moved to its current location in 1949. He not only established a lucrative business, but also invented and patented candy manufacturing and wrapping machinery.

Mrs. Shumicek was a fan of brittle growing up and she’d managed offices for more than 40 years before they bought the old-fashioned candy company. Her husband was a food broker when they made the purchase.

From old machines to old formulas, the Shumiceks left many of George’s relics alone.

“We kept all of the recipes from Mr. George,” he said. “If you taste ours and taste somebody else’s peanut patties, there’s a different taste.”

Mrs. Shumicek added, “People are used to them and they just love them.”

They also don’t anticipate adding new types of candy.

“We’re not looking to get into chocolate, that’s a whole new ballgame,” Shumicek noted.

But the couple made a few business changes when they took over the factory. They downsized and reorganized for efficiency.

They don’t advertise. Word of mouth keeps the business buzzing. They were recently featured in a Texas Highways Magazine article, which resulted in their phones “ringing off the hook.”

Just like the simplicity of their candies, they want to keep their company as modest as possible.

“We’re going to try to keep it just a made-too-order company,” Mrs. Shumicek said. “I think the niche is there.”

They will be revamping the company’s website, enabling customers to order online. It should be ready to go by March, Mrs. Shumicek said.

Customers may purchase sweets right on the property, but during the holidays they move broken and overflowed candies to an adjacent building to keep the traffic down. Their old-time sweets are also available at Brookshire’s World of Wildlife Museum and Country Store.

It doesn’t get any better for the Shumiceks who sell candies that provoke down-home nostalgia.

“It’s a sweet job,” Shumicek said.