After closing its doors earlier this year, US-based Lammes Candies has celebrated a key plant to revive the business under fresh ownership, saving the 141 year-old candy company, writes Neill Barston.

The longstanding Texas firm has now been acquired by Delightful Development Co., the Fort Worth-based hospitality duo known for leading the revival of the historic Fort Worth Stockyards.

Consequently, pre-orders are now being taken for some of its core range, with the five generations having grown from its core praline business, built on premium ingredients, into a catalog of more than 1,000 items, all of which were made at the Airport Boulevard factory that opened in 1956 beneath its iconic candy cane pole and sign featuring a lamb outlined in neon.

As the business confirmed, its return include a limited run of Lammes’ acclaimed holiday Sherbet Mints, Longhorns and Texas Chewie Pecan Pralines packaged in the brand’s legacy boxes, via lammes.com, with its Christmas and Easter Sherbet Mints also be available at select Cracker Barrel Old Country Store locations across the US.

Notably, as the company explained, William Wirt Lamme incorporated the lamb into his branding so customers would know how to pronounce his name. With today’s announcement by the Lammes Candies family and Delightful Development, the legacy company the Lammes Candies family created — and its famous lamb — will live on for another 141 years.

Shortly after the closure announcement in April, Delightful Development co-founders Craig Cavileer and Kayla Wilkie-Kinne Craig Cavileer reached out to the Lammes Candies family.

Their proposal to acquire the company kept the family involved through a shared mission: to restore the iconic Lammes Candies brand for its loyal customers exactly as they remember it, while reinvigorating its identity and connecting it with the next generation of Lammes customers in Texas and across the United States.

The Lammes Candies family embraced the vision, the story and the plan, and today remains involved in the transition of the family brand under the stewardship of Cavileer and Wilkie-Kinne.

Committed to premium ingredients, artisanal handcrafting of the product, quality control and recipe integrity, Cavileer, Wilkie-Kinne and the Lammes Candies family will ensure every piece stays true to what generations of Texans know and love. The Lammes team is also committed to bringing new and innovative treats to Lammes lovers across the country.

“Lammes Candies is more than a confection and candy company,” said Wilkie-Kinne. “It’s a significant piece of Texas history that Craig and I will honor, preserve and celebrate with future generations of Texans and customers around the country. Our vision isn’t to change what Lammes Candies is known for. It’s to bring back the legacy recipes, traditions and heritage that made Lammes so special for 141 years, while we introduce new artisanal chocolates and candies for the next 141 years.”

Cavileer and Wilkie-Kinne bring deep experience in reviving Texas landmarks. Cavileer spent 13 years (with Wilkie-Kinne joining for eight of those years) leading the renaissance of the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District, including curating, developing and operating the Hotel Drover and the award-winning adaptive reuse of Mule Alley. 

As the company noted, for the relaunch of Lammes, Delightful has partnered with McGarrah Jessee (McJ), the Austin-based independent creative company, to lead the next chapter of the Lammes evolution. Founded in 1996, McGarrah Jessee has spent three decades building beloved brands with deep Texas roots, including Whataburger, Shiner Beer, YETI and Deep Eddy Vodka.

For Lammes, McJ is working with Delightful to design new product packaging, redesign and refresh the brand’s website, and develop a social strategy across its social media platforms, all rooted in storytelling for the legacy brand. Drawing on 141 years of family archives and history, the formal relaunch arrives in spring 2027.