Inside the Oldest Candy Factory in the Northwest: A National Candy Month Story

Most candy bars come from facilities you'll never see. Idaho Candy Company is different. Their factory at 412 South 8th Street in Boise has been running since 1909 — and parts of it look like they haven't changed much since.

For National Candy Month this June, it's worth understanding what it actually takes to make a candy bar that lasts a hundred years.

A Building with History

When T.O. Smith built the Idaho Candy factory in 1909, it was considered one of the most modern buildings in Boise. It had skylights for natural light, a dedicated break room for employees, and equipment imported specifically for confectionery production. Some of that original equipment is still in use today.

The building has been through four independent family ownerships over 125 years. It's currently veteran-owned. Through every transition, the factory has kept running and the recipes have stayed the same. According to the Library of Congress, food manufacturers with this kind of continuous production history are among the rarest surviving examples of American industrial heritage. [External: loc.gov]

How the Idaho Spud Bar Is Made

The Idaho Spud Bar starts with a cocoa-flavored marshmallow center — made in-house, not sourced from a supplier. That center gets coated in dark chocolate through an enrobing process, then coconut is sprinkled over the outside before it sets. The result is a bar that's been made the same way since 1918 and tastes like it. Order at https://www.idahospud.com/products/idahospudbar 

The Cherry Cocktail Bar

The Cherry Cocktail Bar is one of the more labor-intensive bars in the lineup. The entire thing is handmade. A whole cherry sits at the center, surrounded by cherry cream, then encased in freshly roasted peanuts and premium milk chocolate. It has been made this way since 1926. Find it at https://www.idahospud.com/products/cherry-cocktail

What a Century of Consistency Looks Like

Most food companies reformulate products over time — swapping ingredients for cheaper alternatives, adjusting recipes for modern palates. Idaho Candy has largely resisted that. The bars taste today the way they tasted decades ago because the process hasn't changed.

That consistency doesn't happen by accident. It's a choice the company has made, ownership after ownership, for over a century.

Browse the full Idaho Candy lineup at idahospud.com and see what a hundred years of the same recipe tastes like.