Hebert Candies

Hebert Candies, per its own history page, was started in 1917 by founder Frederick Hebert, who "purchased a copper kettle, knife, table, thermometer, and a slab of marble for the total price of $11." The company later bought the Hillswold Mansion on Route 20 in Shrewsbury; per Hebert's own history page, "Opening in 1946, The Candy Mansion became the first roadside retail confectionary operation in the United States." Per Wikipedia's own Hebert Candies article, "Hebert Candies became the first roadside confectioner in the entire United States" after that 1946 move. Hebert's own history page separately states that founder Frederick Hebert discovered "white coat" candies while traveling in Europe and "used the recipes he discovered to formally introduce white chocolate to the United States"; Wikipedia dates that discovery to 1956, stating Hebert "was the first to do so." Hebert's sons Gerald and Raymond grew the business to nine retail outlets in New England and shipped candy worldwide; Gerald later bought out Raymond and assumed sole ownership. In 2004, Hebert Candies sold its chocolate-bar manufacturing equipment and fundraising business to LaMontagne of Canada, an arrangement that broke down when "LaMontagne and the new owner of Hebert's, Pete Perkins of Sabrosa Foods, could not come to terms." In 2005, per Wikipedia, the investment firm Longmeadow Capital Partners LLC acquired Hebert Candies and launched a rebranding campaign; in the spring of 2012, Hebert Candies became part of American Gourmet Group, LLC, also a Longmeadow Capital Partners company.