Legendary Candy Company Killed After 141 Years By Soaring Costs

Soaring expenses for raw materials and labor have delivered a blow to yet another longtime business, claiming Lammes Candies, a family-owned confectioner that has operated in the South for more than a century, FOX 7 Austin reports.

The Austin, Texas,-based company recently announced that it will begin an “orderly wind-down of operations” after 141 years of family ownership, according to a statement posted to its Facebook page.

“This was not an easy decision,” the candy company wrote. “Lammes Candies has been more than a business – it has been a family legacy spanning generations.”

“We’ve been so honored to be part of your celebrations and your sweetest moments,” the company wrote in a separate post. “Now we’re asking one last thing: savor every bite.”

Lana Schmidt, the company’s vice president, cited intensifying economic pressures for the closure in an interview with FOX 7 Austin.

“The economy, you know, with the raw materials going up, labor is going – it’s just everything is escalating,” a disheartened Schmidt said. “There’s not a huge margin in confections.”

Founded in 1885 after the Lamme family reacquired the business, the company built its reputation on pecan pralines and other handcrafted sweets.

“Throughout the years, my father bought it in its entirety, I think, in 1972. And so, he was in the fourth generation,” Schmidt said. “My brother and sister and I are the fifth generation. And back in that time, we had just like one, two retail stores. And then they grew it throughout Austin.”

“I think we’ve built a legacy for the community. I mean we had the first neon sign. I mean there are a lot of firsts with lamps in Austin. I know people are gonna miss this sweet treat, this tradition of theirs. And so we will miss the community,” she added.

Speaking to FOX 7 Austin, some longtime customers are heartbroken by the news.

“I first came here when I first moved to Austin. This was one of the first places I came to. I moved here about five years ago. And I came in because I saw that it was one of the oldest places in Austin. And I was like, I want to get in on that,” one customer told the local news outlet.

“I’ve never been here before. My mom told me when we moved over here about how, when she was a kid, she used to go here a lot,” another customer said.