Candy maker's manufacturing moves offshore

Joe Dutra is moving much of his company's manufacturing offshore offshore from Korea, that is, and back to the United States.

Dutra, the chief executive officer of Kimmie Candy Co., these days is busy installing candy-making equipment in a 16,000-square-foot facility at 525 Reactor Way in Reno as part of a double-barreled move.

The company, headquartered at Sacramento since it was founded in 1999, is moving its corporate offices to Reno.

At the same time, Dutra's team is shifting about 75 percent of its production capacity to the United States after moving it offshore to Korea several years ago.

"We were trying to get to a point where we could bring the production back to the United States,"Dutra said last week."We would prefer to have our products made in the United States."

Those products include Sunbursts, sunflower seeds covered in chocolate and candy, which were the company's first hit product.

Its Choco Rocks was honored as product of the year by a candy trade association and other products include candy-covered raisins and candy-covered cookies.

Its gourmet products,meanwhile, have been sold by retailers such as Nordstrom.

When the Reno facility begins production in March, it will employ about 10, a number that will be augmented with part-time workers whenever the company has a big order, Dutra said.

The Reno plant will serve North American customers; the Korean operation will take care of international markets.

Ultimately, Dutra said, the company hopes to host tours of the Reno facility and also hopes to launch a factory store to sell at retail.