http://www.newschief.com/article/20100307/NEWS/3075029/1021/NEWS01?Title=Candy-company-has-a-sweet-history-in-Dundee
Davidson of Dundee
Candy company has a sweet history in Dundee
George Aycrigg / News Chief
Tonya Copeland, left, and Olga Viggiano pour a fresh cooked batch of orange citrus delicacy out to cool.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010.
By PAULA STUART
News Chief correspondent
Published: Sunday, March 7, 2010 at 4:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, March 7, 2010 at 1:59 a.m.
DUNDEE - Before Walt Disney broke ground just east of Polk County for his new Orlando-area theme park, a very popular place in the town of Dundee attracted tourists from across the United States and beyond.
Davidson of Dundee was one of the strong magnets that drew vacationers to Polk County.
Opening its doors in 1967, Davidson's became the finishing touch for thousands of tourists who spent a nice vacation day at Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven.
"My father built the candy factory on the north side of Highway 27, so as the tourists left Cypress Gardens, they would be on the right side of the road as they were heading back home," owner Tom Davidson said about his father, Glen Davidson.
Davidson said his father grew up in Winter Haven during the Depression. After flying Dauntless dive bombers off the USS Valley Forge aircraft carrier for the U.S. Navy during World War II, Glen Davidson went to work for a candy company.
Glen Davidson learned a lot by working at Sunline Candy Co. in St. Louis. He marketed the first giant jawbreaker, which actually was made by mistake. He also played a part in the creation of SweetTarts.
"A friend in the St. Louis Rotary Club worked for Tums and showed my dad how to make tablets from their Pixy (Stix) sugar," Tom Davidson said. "They had to get with the chemist to make something that would stay solid."
Glen Davidson returned home to the Winter Haven area and helped his father, T.W. Davidson, with his citrus groves. As a youngster, Glen Davidson enjoyed a confection made from citrus juices and Florida sugar cane.
He and his wife, Lois, decided to create that old familiar, sweet chew and they shared it with friends. Word of the unique taste and texture spread, and requests came faster than production. That turned into the business that remains today, 43 years later.
Davidson of Dundee still owns groves in Polk County and produces much of its own ingredients. Some of the citrus varieties currently being grown are navels, red grapefruit, pages, honey bells and limes.
The Davidsons can make their own fresh juice, but they do purchase the other main ingredient for their candy - sugar. "With sugar, it has been very bizarre, and the price has skyrocketed," Tom Davidson said. "We buy contracts of sugar and lock it in for a year at a time. We do not use high-fructose corn syrup. It darkens the product and gives an override taste to our citrus taste. We do use pure cane syrup and fruit."
This delicacy made in a small Polk County town has made it to stores in such far-away places as Australia and Italy.
"The weirdest place we shipped it to was Iceland," Davidson said.
Hometown residents and tourists aren't the only ones who have discovered Davidson's tangy treat. Former Miss Americas, college football coaching legend Bear Bryant, NASCAR drivers, professional baseball players and country music artists have made trips to Davidson of Dundee. One special guest was the founder of Wal-Mart.
"Sam Walton came in here when my dad was here in the mid-1970s. He told my father that he was expanding into Florida," Tom Davidson said.
With the popularity and fame that Davidson's products have gained in four decades, they have been detected on the radar screen of national and even international media outlets. Television shows have been filmed from the local candy kitchen and have appeared on the Food Network, the Home Shopping Network and QVC.
On the international level, Davidson's was just featured on the "Sunday Mail," a TV show aired in Ireland.
"Since marmalade was invented in Dundee, Scotland, they (the show's producers) thought that it was cool that we made marmalade in Dundee, Florida, so they came over and did a show from here, and that was pretty fun," Tom Davidson said.
In addition to its retail sales, this hometown candy factory sells its products wholesale to stores in Florida and Georgia.
"Most of our stuff will be found in gift shops, airports and retail stores," Davidson said. "We make 51 flavors of marmalades and jellies and more than 100 candies, pralines, log rolls and 14 different kinds of chocolates, and pie fillings, sugar-free chocolates and butters."
Davidson said the trickiest candy to make in Florida is the nugget, because of the state's normal high humidity.
Davidson employs 26 local people to make the factory's sweet treats, and while citrus is seasonal, candy is not.
"Some days we are crazy busy," he said. "We still have tour buses stop through."
Davidson's longest employed staff member is 81-year-old Haines City resident Alice O'Neill, who started with the company in 1967. O'Neill greets guests much like an ambassador and takes them on tours through the glassed-in factory. Her presentation is accompanied by instructions for cooking old-fashioned candy.
"We make the candies and crunches in the old-fashion copper kettles and stir it with a wooden paddle," O'Neill said. "After it reaches a little over 200 degrees, we pour it on the marble table and let it stay 48 hours before we use it."
Davidson's makes a minimum 1,000 pounds of candy per day. Each piece is packed by hand and placed into a paper cup before entering a decorative tin or gift basket.
"We have to do it all by hand because it is so delicate and soft," O'Neill. "We seal it with a shrink machine, making it air tight so you can put it in the car and take it to Disney or shop all day long. The heat will not hurt the citrus candy at all."
People who visited Davidson of Dundee in their childhood years now return with their children and grandchildren. Customers still recognize the products and the people.
"They can't get over that I am still here after all these years, and they are happy to see me again," O'Neill said. "They want their children and grandchildren to see this candy the way they did when they were children."
Florida-specific products made at Davidson of Dundee can be found in all three of Central Florida's main attractions. Tom Davidson said the company's plans include establishing more of its own stores in the southeastern United States.
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Photo Credit: George Aycrigg / News Chief
Alice O'Neill has worked at Davidson's of Dundee for 43 years.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010.
Photo Credit: George Aycrigg / News Chief
Sandra Hernandez, left, and Christine Harris make and pack jars of key lime jelly.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010.
Photo Credit: George Aycrigg / News Chief
Mary Hill packs oval gift baskets of candy and fruits.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010.
Photo Credit: George Aycrigg / News Chief
Barb Roberts runs a sealer to finish up the oval gift baskets.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010. 
