John Watson cooked up Big Foot, Cherry Blasters

October 10, 2008
Meredith Macleod
The Hamilton Spectator
(Oct 10, 2008)
John Watson left the world a sweeter place.

Literally.

The Dundas engineer developed the recipes and the machines to produce much-loved candies such as Big Foot, Sour Patch Kids, Fuzzy Peach and Cherry Blasters. He even brought Gummie Bears to North America, after meeting the French inventor at a candy convention.

Watson died at 78 on Aug. 31 after a year-long battle with an aggressive form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often called Lou Gehrig's disease.

Watson was the general manager of the Malanco Licorice Company, partly owned by Allan Candy, located on Shaw Street in downtown Hamilton.

The company was later renamed M & A Candy, and in 1995 became part of Cadbury Canada with the purchase of Allan Candy.

(Allan Candy was bought by a private investment firm in 2007.)

Watson converted M & A's operations from a labour-intensive process to an automated one by designing machines to make licorice and moulded jelly candies.

Production then skyrocketed from 100 tons with 10 employees to 25,000 tons and 300 employees during his career.

The company soon needed more space and shifted manufacturing to the former John Deere plant on Ewen Road.

Watson added the production of starch-moulded candies like Cherry Blasters and Fuzzy Peach, which proved to be big sellers.

He didn't have much of a sweet tooth, so he would try out his new concoctions on sons Philip and Edward and their friends.

"He developed technology far ahead of its time," said son Phil. "It's kept that plant running and making money."

John McDonald, co-ordinator of apprenticeships at Mohawk College, worked as an electrician at M & A Candy for many years. He was also a close friend of Watson's.

"He basically design-built all the automated equipment himself in order that no other company would know the secrets. He was years ahead of his time in this aspect," McDonald wrote in an e-mail.

"When the economy became global, he was ready and could compete with the world. Their products were of a high quality, and through automation were economically produced."

Whenever wife Ruth would brag about her husband's achievements, he would quickly shift praise to employees in the plant.

"He would walk the factory floor to say good morning to everyone. He never missed a day. He loved his job and every employee," she said.

After he retired, Cadbury retained him as a consultant and he travelled to other countries to evaluate operations.

But his family says he struggled to come to grips with the fact that the small, family-like atmosphere at the plant had been swallowed up in a giant, corporate culture.

"Everybody who worked there just loved him," said Cal Taylor, a friend and accountant who worked with Watson for 20 years.

"It was a very successful division of Allan Candy, because of John. He was very good at what he did. He was always experimenting and coming up with new ideas."

Watson was born in India in 1930. His father was an English tea planter and his mother a native of India.

He left his homeland at 17, intending to study to become a doctor in England. When he was displaced from medical school by veterans returning from the war, he chose to study engineering at Leeds University. There he met Ruth, a Danish girl working as a nanny, at a school dance. They were married for 57 years.

After arriving in Canada, Watson worked at Northern Telecom in Montreal before coming to Hamilton for a job at Westinghouse.

In addition to designing homes and buying homes to fix up and sell, Watson was active in Rotary in his retirement.

He was especially proud of being part of the opening of the Wally Cattel Seniors Centre in Dundas. He was also a lifetime sponsor and former Canadian chapter president of Dr. Graham's Homes, a missionary school organization that educated him as a child in India.

Watson is survived by his wife Ruth, his two sons and daughters-in-law, six grandchildren and his sister Jane Datta of Dundas.