Smarties Candy Company  Smarties Candy Company (formerly Ce De Candy, Inc.) is a confectionery company well known for its namesake candy, Smarties. Edward "Eddie" Dee founded Ce De Candy in Bloomfield, New Jersey, in 1949. Dee immigrated from England to the United States. Edward Dee's granddaughters, Sarah Dee, Jessica Dee Sawyer and Liz Dee serve as co-presidents of the company. Smarties Candy Company operates plants in Union Township, New Jersey, and in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. The Canadian operations were initially in on 993 Queen Street West in Toronto in 1963 and moved to Newmarket in 1988. The old Toronto factory (c. 1907 east wing as fabric mill, c. 1920s west wing addition joined by central wing housing central heating and incinerator) is now the Candy Factory Lofts (conversion 1999). Its US headquarters are in Union Township. It is one of the few remaining family-owned, mass-production confectionery companies in the United States. In 1949, Edward Dee, a second generation candymaker from England, first began producing candy rolls in a rented New Jersey factory in Bloomfield with one wrapping machine and one tablet presser which was a repurposed pellet-making machine. Dee, a Cambridge University graduate, called his product "Smarties" to "encourage people to pursue an education." His family produces a similar candy in England through Swizzels Matlow Co. Initially, Dee took the candy by car to small grocery and tobacco stores. He later moved his American operations to Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1959 and then again to its current location in Union Township in 1967. Ce De Candy's Canadian operations were first established in Toronto, Ontario, in 1963, and were later moved to Newmarket in 1988. The Canadian candies go by the name Rockets to avoid confusion with Nestle's candy-coated chocolate Smarties. The company now produces Smarties around the clock in its two factories producing over 2.5 billion Smarties candy rolls per year. In 1991, Mr. T and Ce De Candy collaborated to form Crusade for Kids. It encouraged kids to stay in school and say "no" to drugs. Crusade for Kids raised funds for the Children's Defense Fund charity. In October 2010, the company vice president of sales and marketing was inducted into the Candy Hall of Fame. In 2011, the company changed its name from Ce De Candy, Inc. to Smarties Candy Company after its most famous product.