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A sweet recipe for success
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June 16, 1997: 12:00 p.m. ET
Candy makers play 'mom and pop' to keep sales records rolling along
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Marvin and Ellen Gordon have a leadership style at Tootsie Roll Industries that combines the latest business strategies with the old-world charm of a 'mom and pop' shop.
While they haven't fiddled with the secret formula that an Austrian immigrant brought to the U.S. in 1896, they've made calculated changes that have produced record sales in the last 20 years.
"We try to make candy with all the rigor and the professionalism of a public company but with the heart and the vitality of a private company," President Ellen Gordon told CNNfn's "Business Unusual."
The Chicago-based candy maker produces 49 million Tootsie Rolls and another 16 million lollipops a day -- enough sweets in a year to stretch to the moon and back .
The couple's involvement in the business dates back to 1922, when the company went public and Ellen Gordon's mother bought some shares. Eventually, she had a controlling interest.
Part of the success comes from the company's decision to maintain a strong identity by selling candy only under its own brand name, says Marvin Gordon, CEO. (100K WAV) or (100K AIF)
John McMillin, an analyst with Prudential Securities, says the candy is as much a part of America as McDonald's or Hershey.
"Tootsie Rolls are part of everybody's youth," McMillin says.
Analysts have given the Gordons high marks for management and leadership. The pair says they discourage office politics and encourage their employees to work in teams. They also reward creativity.
An employee team helped develop one new product, a caramel apple lollipop.
"We believe in cross-training our people so that they have an understanding of what an issue is, and what goes on in another department," Ellen Gordon says. "And we think that this cross-training not only makes them perform their job better, but also gives them a company-wide view."
The company also has known when to break with tradition. They changed their 27-year-old ad of an owl and a turtle to appeal to a market comprised mostly of children.
Animated, high-tech creatures now ask the famous question, "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?" (150K WAV) or (150K AIF)
McMillin says the challenge in the future will be to pay attention to changing demographics.
"Tootsie Rolls are uniquely geared to kids, and I think as that population declines … and as the company evolves from the Gordons to a new set of management, there are certainly some issues, some challenges to deal with," McMillin says. 
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