Sweet memories of a Beacon of a business

It might seem strange that picking up a packet of Jelly Tots is akin to picking up a major part of South African Jewish history, but Beacon Sweets and Chocolates is steeped in South African Jewish heritage.

It all started in 1931, when a Jewish Lithuanian immigrant named Hymie Zulman and his wife, Mary, bought a business called the Durban Confectionery Coffee and Spice Works for £500, their life savings. They started off by producing handmade boiled sweets, toffees, with a team of only six people.

“From there, he grew the business from its original site in central Durban on Commercial Road, to be able to sell not only to individuals but local wholesalers and retailers,” said David Zulman, one of Hymie’s grandsons.

Durban Confectionery, Coffee and Spice Works was renamed Beacon Sweets and Chocolates Pty (Ltd) in 1936.

By 1938, Beacon had expanded to the point where it began producing chocolates and had more than 60 staff members. It was at that point that the business caught the eye of a British confectionery manufacturer, Mr Douglas Maynard.

“My grandfather and a man called Douglas Maynard struck up a friendship, and then exchanged shares in one another’s companies,” said David.

By 1949, Maynards had acquired a shareholding in Beacon, and the first Maynards Wine Gums made their way to South Africa.

Arnold Zulman, born only a year after his father acquired Durban Confectionery, Coffee and Spice Works, who passed away at the age of 92 on 1 June in North Carolina, was brought up in the business and ensured that his children were also involved as they recognised that the business was a family legacy.

“It was my grandfather and in turn, my father, who made their mark in South Africa, and along with many in the Jewish community, played their part in the community and business,” said David.

In the 1950s, Hymie and Arnold bought a six-acre site at Mobeni, where they built new factory buildings, storerooms, and offices. Said David, “that site in Mobeni grew through multiple acquisitions of neighbours to bring it to be the site it is today, which houses a substantial amount of Beacon’s sugar confectionery manufacturing. An adjacent site was bought in the early 1980s, which then housed a new chocolate factory.”

David said making some of the sweets kosher was important to his father and grandfather as doing so showed their commitment to the Jewish community. “It was an obligation to the community. Not all production was kosher, but there were times of the year when special kosher runs were managed,” he said.

In later years Arnold bought back all the Beacon shares held by the Maynards and other investors had in Beacon Sweets, making it a completely family-owned business once again.

“It was a great part of our lives,” said Tamara Cohen, one of Arnold’s children. “It was where my father worked, and where all of us kids started working.”

Cohen said it was important to all those in the family that they had some sort of involvement in the business as it was their legacy, even though most of the family didn’t live in South Africa anymore.

“I used to go to the factory every Saturday morning with my father or grandfather. I used to ride my bicycle up and down the corridors, and I used to play hide and seek in the cocoa sacks,” said David.

“That’s where I learned about the business. I learned about the industry. I learned it from the ground floor up,” said David, “I did all sorts of things when I was a student, learning about different aspects of the business, from boiling sugar to making toffees, to driving trucks, to making chocolate. I left South Africa to get some work experience and ended up starting my own business in the United Kingdom (UK) in the late 1980s, and came back to run the Beacon business in 1997.”

Eventually, the business was growing at such a rapid pace that in 1989, the family decided to sell 50% of its shares to Tiger Oats. “The business had grown substantially, and had quite a large market share of the South African market. And as with any company going through growth phases at a certain time, it can sometimes be better financed by a big corporation. Tiger Brands was keen to get involved. Prior to this my father had had a triple heart bypass, and three of his four children were living and working abroad.”

Then, 10 years later, the balance of Beacon Sweets was sold to Tiger Brands by the Zulman family. “None of the people in my generation were living in the country at the time, so it was hard to maintain the level of family involvement that we would have liked and which was important to us,” said Cohen. “It seemed like an appropriate offer that happened at the right time.”

For David, his favourite Beacon sweet changes depending on the day. “People always ask me what my favourite product is, and it’s a difficult question. I often say it’s like choosing your favourite child. It depends on the day of the week, and what you feel like. I mean, there were some very famous products like marshmallow eggs, hens eggs, Fizz Pops, Sparkles, and Liquorice Allsorts.”

Though he can’t choose a favourite product, when he’s at home in the UK and walks past a shop selling a Beacon product, he has to go in and purchase some, he said. “Fizz Pops and Fizzers are the most common in the UK at the moment. For old times’ sake, I always buy something that’s Beacon when I see it in the UK.”