MEET THE MAKER

It all started when Harry L. Brown (who had a love for making candy) and J. C. Haley (who had a love for business) met at church in Tacoma in 1908. By 1912 they had decided on a candy business partnership and in 1914 they incorporated under the name Oriole Candy Company.

With the emergence of the war in Europe in 1914, nearby Camp Lewis (now Joint Base Lewis McCord) swelled with doughboys training to fight “over there”. The soldiers had a collective sweet tooth that yearned to be satisfied, and Brown & Haley happily supplied them with everything from taffy chews to butterscotch balls. In 1915, they introduced the Mount Tacoma Bar (later known as the Mountain Bar) and it was hit.

By 1923, the company had developed a delicious buttercrunch confection dubbed the Almond Roca by local librarian Jacqueline Noel. "Almond" refers to the nuts, while "Roca" is Spanish for "rock" chosen to describe the candy's hard, crunchy texture and to evoke the premium Spanish almonds used at the time.  Four years later, the company decided to seal it in the now-famous pink tin, extending its shelf life threefold making it easy to ship or "travel". It traveled with US troops to Europe, the Middle East, and the Pacific during World War II, then to Korea and Vietnam. Today, it continues to be a favorite among our troops and an iconic Washington brand.

Not only have their popular Almond ROCA gift tins delighted the world since 1923, but it became the largest exported gift candy in the United States in the 1990's. Today, ROCA is exported to 65 countries worldwide. 

Brown & Haley are still headquartered in the factory where Almond Roca buttercrunch toffee was invented.

Watch our Brown & Haley Did You Know video.