Jelly Belly creates general counsel position

Attorney John Di Giusto will provide in-house legal counsel to the Fairfield, Calif.-based manufacturer come August

John Di Giusto

Jelly Belly Candy Co. has added a new member to its executive team who’s guaranteed to dot the i’s and cross the t’s.

The Fairfield, Calif.-based confectioner announced Tuesday that attorney John Di Giusto will assume a newly created General Counsel position in August.

Robert Simpson, Jr., president and coo of Jelly Belly, says after previous collaboration, he is glad to add the Sacramento, Calif.-based corporate and tax attorney to the organization.

“We are very happy to have John Di Giusto join our company,” Simpson says. “His work representing us in the last five years while with Boudin Jones Inc. has been exceptional and a valuable aid to our company.”

Seeing as Jelly Belly distributes in 76 countries worldwide, Simpson cites increased global and domestic expansion for the creation of the position.

“We enjoy exceptional brand awareness for our products here at home as well as overseas,” Simpson says. “The opportunities for growth are tremendous, and we see huge strides ahead of us. The complexities of managing and developing a multinational brand, coupled with strong domestic sales, prompted the decision to grow our executive team by creating an in-house counsel team.”

Jelly Belly Candy Co. manufactures its trademark gourmet Jelly Belly jelly beans, as well gummies, chocolates, licorice and other confections.

Alyse Thompson has held many positions with BNP Media, first serving as an intern at Candy Industry Magazine in summer 2012. She joined Candy Industry's staff full time as associate editor in August 2016 after a few years at newspapers in West-Central Illinois, becoming managing editor in March 2019. Alyse has also served as managing editor of Cannabis Products Magazine since March 2019. She has bachelor’s degrees in journalism and Spanish from Western Illinois University.