Built to Last
When the Great Depression struck in 1932, Crown Candy went bankrupt. But Paul Dorn, a recent Georgia Tech graduate, saw what others missed. Five-and-ten-cent stores across the country were selling enormous quantities of candy, and most of it was being shipped in from far away. Dorn offered $500 for the plant and became the new owner of Crown Candy Company.
In 1936, Joe High Williams purchased a half interest, and the company moved to a larger facility. Together, Dorn and Williams expanded Crown’s reach from local five-and-dime counters to national variety and department store chains. Candy was sold by the pound, straight from glass display cases. Fudge. Pecan Divinity. Peanut Brittle. Caramel Coconut Tips. Toasted Macaroons. Pecan Logs. The lineup that customers know today was already taking shape.
In 1962, E.L. Brooking purchased the business. A veteran of the candy industry since 1940 and former Vice President of Brock Candy Company, Brooking brought deep expertise and a respect for what Crown had already built. He continued to grow the company’s wholesale presence while keeping the recipes exactly as they were.
What We Make
Crown Candy produces a focused line of traditional Southern confections, each one crafted with time-tested recipes and real ingredients.
Our nut logs feature a soft divinity center wrapped in rich, creamy caramel and covered in fresh pecans, almonds, or peanuts. Our Pecan Divinity is soft, airy, and loaded with pecan pieces. Our Peanut Brittle is roasted to a satisfying crunch.
Then there is our coconut. Crown Candy offers one of the widest selections of coconut confections in the country: Coconut Bon Bons with cream coconut centers in assorted fondant coatings. Caramel Coconut Tips layered with vanilla fudge and coconut. Toasted Macaroons, lightly golden and full of flavor. Supreme Coconut Bars. Coconut has always been central to what we do, and no one does it with more variety or care.
The Difference Is in Every Bite
What sets Homestyle Candies apart is not any single ingredient, it’s the commitment to making candy the way it has always been made. The same recipes. The same methods. The same care at every step. These are the standards that have defined Crown Candy from the very start, and we have never seen a reason to walk away from them. In an era when so much has been simplified or substituted away, that kind of fidelity means something.
Every piece of Homestyle Candies is made to taste like it came from someone’s kitchen, not a factory floor. That kind of taste does something a trendy confection cannot: it takes you somewhere. It brings back a memory, a person, a moment that mattered. That is the Homestyle difference, and it is one you can taste.
From a four-furnace kitchen on Pryor Street to a modern facility in Macon, the recipes have stayed the same. The tradition is timeless. And in a world that keeps changing, there is deep comfort in something that does not. The candy is as good as it has ever been, because some things should never change.