Impact Confections
The sweet, and sour, side of success
Impact Confections expands in Janesville
Impact Confections, known for its sweet treats and popular sour candy, is building on its Janesville roots to deliver improved product quality and set a new standard for efficiency, automation, and long-term growth.
The candy maker, founded in 1981 in Janesville, was purchased by Mexico-based KUA LLC in 2019. The company has an eye for growth, and subsequent capital investments helped it succeed in boosting both revenue and employment.
From modest beginnings, the company’s product line—which includes everyday and seasonal candies—has grown to include Warheads, its well-known sour candy brand, and Melster Candies, makers of marshmallow Circus Peanuts. It also offers contract manufacturing of hard candies, chewy non-chocolate gummies, spray candy, and other treats.
Planning for growth
Impact Confections used capital investments to help build its markets and boost its success. Those investments helped Impact Confections nearly triple its sales, which hit $80 million in 2023. Today, the company employs 240 people.
But company officials knew that continued growth depended on strategic investment and careful attention to efficiency and product quality. So, they worked alongside state officials to plan for a $12.4 million expansion aimed at enhancing the company’s ability to produce high-quality candy.
To sweeten the collaboration, WEDC provided up to $215,000 in performance-based state tax credits, contingent upon the firm meeting capital investment and employment goals. The credits, announced in October 2025, helped Impact Confections make its Janesville expansion a reality.
Project modernizes facilities, builds capacity
Raul Peláez, CEO of KUA and Impact Confections, thanked the state for helping to make the project successful.
“Each upgrade strengthens our capabilities, improves quality, and creates a more productive environment for our Janesville team to work in,” Peláez says.
This investment represents the completion of a major first stage of modernization at the Janesville facility.
This phase included replacing a 30-year-old starch moulding machine with a new high-capacity Mogul line—the largest capital project in the company’s history—along with the installation of a fully automated case packer to increase bagging capacity and the replacement of a candy finishing line with two new production lines.
With these upgrades, the Janesville facility is able to deliver better product quality and improve productivity through automation.
Governor Tony Evers, who attended the celebration of the new expansion, said the project was more evidence of the opportunities the state’s business climate offers for international companies.
“With this new addition, Impact Confections and KUA will not only produce better quality candy, decrease downtime, and increase efficiency, but also set new standards for automation and long-term growth in Wisconsin,” the governor said.
