Jelly Belly appoints new CEO

Lisa Rowland Brasher has been named president and chief executive officer of Jelly Belly Candy Company; four generations of the family before her have made candy in America. She will now lead all executive and operational activities for the company. She will report to company chairman of the board Herman G Rowland, Sr, her father.

“This company was founded on the traditions of family and quality candy. We intend to remain a family company, and I’m proud that the fifth and sixth generations are stepping up to drive the business forward. I have great confidence that this appointment will position the company for successive generations to carry on the 146-year tradition of candy manufacturing,” says Herman Rowland, Sr.

Prior to this appointment Brasher had been vice chair of the board since 2009 and vice president of administration from 2006-2009 at the company headquarters in Fairfield, California, where she was actively involved in the executive management of the privately held firm. She will oversee the three manufacturing plants and the company’s operations in China, Germany and Thailand. She is a company spokesperson on television, radio and print media and has appeared on major TV shows.

With 33 years of experience in the day-to-day operations of the company, Brasher has broad experience to lead the company into the future. She joined the company in 1982 as a customer service representative and billing clerk. In the 1980s, she managed accounts Payable and was privileged to work in finance alongside her grandmother, Aloyse Goelitz Rowland. She held positions in human resources and sales merchandising early in her career. She joined the executive team as corporate director in the 1990s taking on key assignments.

Brasher, along with her brothers, brother-in-law and sister, represents the fifth generation of the candy making family. Her great great-grandfather, Gustav Goelitz, came to America from Germany and became the first known candy maker in the family in 1869.

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