Charles Cari, an Italian immigrant, worked for W. F. Schrafft’s & Sons as a candy maker. He learned to make toffee at the Boston firm, and, later, Cari moved to New York to begin his own candy business. He specialized in taffy products creating a market for his product consisting of re-packers and local distributors. Primarily a candy-maker and secondary a salesman, Cari demonstrated his industriousness and devoted skill to his business, and it began to grow.

However, in his 50’s, Cari decided to retire, and he sold his business to another individual who would prove incremental in the continuation of Cari’s small business. In 1953, Harry and Joseph Klein, a New York father and son team, purchased the business for $25,000. They named it Phoenix Candy Company and began manufacturing Atlantic-City style Salt-Water Taffy, Peanut Brittle, and Halloween candy. The Kleins made a fair living selling around $400,000 a year worth of Atlantic City-style Salt-Water Taffy, Peanut Brittle, and Halloween candy seasonally. However, they only operated for approximately 9 months out of the year.

In 1962, the Klein’s decided the secret of the business lay in a confection that they could ship year-round, instead of only seasonally, and collect payment within 10 days of order placement. They brought in vacuum cookers to replace open fire kettles and save on cooking and cooling time.  They bought a German-made machine – which produced 150, 10-cent bars per minute – and began production of Now and Later® taffy candy bars. However, the machine had been installed improperly and limped along for about three years. In 1966, a German-speaking plant manager, Joseph Stein, was hired and fixed the machine. The product began to take off.

In 1970, Phoenix Candy Company gained national distribution by expanding sales to the West Coast. By 1976, the Kleins had expanded the company to 16 machines, and the machines ran two shifts per day – six days a week – with plans to add four new machines by 1977.

In 1978, the Kleins sold Phoenix Candy to Beatrice Foods, who already owned several other confectionery companies. In 1983, Beatrice Foods sold the confection company to Huhtamaki Oy of Finland. Huhtomaki Oy established Leaf, Inc. of Bannockburn, Illinois. In January, 1986, Leaf, Inc. consolidated its candy companies, merging Phoenix with Leaf, Inc. in Brooklyn.

However, in 1986, Leaf, Inc. sold Phoenix to Kouri Capital, a Finnish investment firm. At this time, the company’s name changed to Phoenix Confections, Inc. Joseph Stein became Vice-President and Plant Manager, and the factory at Phoenix Candy Company – now equipped with 30 machines – produced 40 million pounds of candy a year, shipping approximately 5 truck loads of candy a day from its warehouse to distribution centers around the country.

In December, 1992, Nabisco Foods Group acquired the assets of Phoenix Confections, Inc., for its LifeSavers® division in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Farley's & Sathers Candy Company, Inc. acquired Now and Later® from Kraft Foods in 2002.

More than 90% of Phoenix’s business was done in Now and Later® candies. The Now and Later® name was meant to suggest to children they could, “Eat some now, and save some for later.” ® However, many also liken the name to the fact that the candy is, “Hard and fruity now, soft and chewy later.” ®

Now and Later® are hard taffy candies that come in a variety of original fruit flavor combinations. They are available in 4-piece, 9-piece, and assorted bars; lay-down and peg bags; and large jars of mini bars. In addition, Giant Now and Later® and Mighty Bite® are also available in large jars. Intense Fruit Chews®, a soft, chewy taffy, have also been added to the Now and Later® taffy family.