Nestlé Candy Shop (formerly The Willy Wonka Candy Company) was a brand of confectionery owned and licensed by Swiss corporation Nestlé but discontinued in 2018 when the individual brands were sold to Ferrara Candy Company. The previous Wonka brand's inception comes from materials licensed from British author Roald Dahl. His classic 1964 children's novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and its film adaptations are the sources of both the packaging and the marketing styles of the Wonka brand. The brand was launched on 17 May 1971, one month before the release of the novel's first film adaptation on 30 June 1971. In 1988 the Willy Wonka Candy Company brand, then owned by Sunmark Corporation, was acquired by Nestlé. Nestlé sold sweets and chocolate under the Willy Wonka brand name in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Africa, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic, and the Middle East.[citation needed] The business was sold to another company in 2018.In 2017, the Willy Wonka brand was dropped by Nestlé in favor of special "throwback" packaging before they eventually renamed the entire brand "Nestlé Candy Shop". Candies previously made by the Willy Wonka brand are now under the Nestlé brand naming, excluding the Wonka brand name on the top left corner. The Wonka brand name is occasionally used under a select few products in Australia and New Zealand, such as Neon Nerds.[citation needed] [Wikipedia]
