They have been firmly rooted in Western New York for over a hundred years. The Ford Gum plant in Akron, NY was started by an enterprising young man named Ford Mason who began by making a better gumball machine.
Ford Gum president George Stege says that the founder soon figured out that he needed to be in the gum business saying "it didn't take him long to realize once you make a good machine, that the real money is not in the machine, because it lasts too long-the money is in the gum because it constantly has to be replaced."
They still make gumballs here as well as Big League Chew a license they acquired in 1980. They make private label items, gum for people with dry mouth and even Jolt Gum which is loaded with caffeine. The biggest change in the past 105 years since the company began is that you can now find many of their products in retail stores across the country.
For more information you can check out their website.
