The Jelly Belly Factory Tour is free, but don't think that you'll get out the door without spending any money.  Ha!  Once you're in there, they've got you.  That said, it really is fun and informative (and yummy).  The tour takes you through the process of making jelly beans (did you know it takes a week to make a jelly bean?)  The first step is to make the center, which is a combination of ingredients that produces what they call a slurry.  The slurry is then placed in bean shaped molds.  From there, they are coated and dried, to keep them from sticking together, then sent to get shells.  The beans spin in a hopper as the sugar and syrup is added to make the candy shell.  After that, the Belly Flops are sorted out.  Those are the jelly beans that are either too large or too small.  I love that – belly flops.  You can buy a bag of them in the gift shop and there is a wildly popular sample bar in the lobby full of them.  The final steps are to shine the jelly beans, then stamp the logo on them, let them dry for a few days, and then package them to be sent all over the world. 

We happened to visit just after Jelly Belly released its Halloween mix with flavors such as Booger, Ear Wax, Pencil Shavings, Vomit, Rotten Egg, Skunk Spray, etc.   You have to love a candy company with a sense of humor!  We left with a bag of Belly Flops, 2 t-shirts, and a recipe book for combining flavors.  See what I mean...our free tour cost us $40! (Pictures in the gallery.)