Grand Junction History Lesson: How Enstrom Candies Got Started
This Grand Junction history lesson is all about Chet and Vernie Enstrom. Here's how Enstrom Candies got started in Grand Junction.
Enstrom Candies is known all over the world for their toffee, specifically, their almond toffee. This is how the Enstrom family got into the toffee business and how Enstrom Candies got started.
The year was 1929 and Chet Enstrom and his wife Vernie moved from Colorado Springs to Grand Junction. According to the Historical Photos of Fruita & Western Colorado Facebook page, Chet grew up making ice cream and candy and he and a partner had an ice cream company. This makes sense, considering Enstrom Candies still serves ice cream.
Then in 1960, Chet made his dreams come true by starting a candy company. According to the Historical Photos of Fruita & Western Colorado Facebook page, he had been working on a toffee recipe for years.
Chet started Enstrom Candies in 1960 then in 1965, his son took over. In 1965, Chet and Vernie's son Emil took over and they continued to keep the business in the family. Another generation joined the company in 1979 and in 1993, Emil's daughter and her husband purchased Enstrom's.
Enstrom Candies is a family business to this day. Emil Enstrom's daughter and her husband, Jamee, and Doug, ran the company and now their sons, Doug Jr. and Jim run it, according to the Historical Photos of Fruita & Western Colorado Facebook page.
After all this time Enstrom Candies still uses Chet's original recipe for almond toffee, according to the Historical Photos of Fruita & Western Colorado Facebook page. It's a tradition they'll always keep and you can see Chet and Vernie pouring toffee together below.