For the past two years, Fast Horse has worked with the iconic Minnesota brand Pearson Candy Company, helping with holiday events, product extensions, new packaging announcements and other marketing projects.

Working with Pearson’s has been a blast. A favorite perk is that I’ve been able to live out my own “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” dream, without the creepy boat ride and Oompa Loompas, and spend a lot of time in a candy factory.

Most recently, Fast Horse helped with one of the most exciting projects in recent Pearson’s history, the acquisition of Bit-O-Honey.

Bit-O-Honey, now in its 90th year of production, is a national brand everyone seems to know. The marriage between a historic candy and a company that has been around for over 100 years seems like a perfect match.

So, roughly 11 months ago Pearson’s acquired the honey-flavored candy, adding the well-known and beloved candy to its already famous candy line. Not only did Pearson’s move the production of Bit-O-Honey to St. Paul, it expanded its factory to handle the new equipment and hired a significant number of new employees.

This exciting process culminated this week with an honorary ribbon-cutting ceremony, which kicked off the production of the first-ever Minnesota-made Bit-O-Honey. During the event, spirits were high as St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, Pearson’s CEO Michael Keller and Minnesota DEED Commissioner Katie Clark Sieben addressed Pearson family members, employees and media about the importance of Pearson’s to the St. Paul community.

The speeches were only the beginning, though. Bit-O-Honey’s biggest fan, 92-year-old Elsie Syverson, was in attendance to cut the ribbon for the new production line, as Mayor Coleman pressed to button to officially start the Bit-O-Honey line. Once bags of candy fell from the conveyor belt, Elsie and Mayor Coleman helped wrap up the celebration by throwing the bags of freshly-made Bit-O-Honey to the crowd of guests.