A little more than a year and a half after Ferrara Pan Candy Co. and Farley’s & Sathers merged to create Ferrara Candy, Sal Ferrara has stepped down from his role on the senior leadership team. 

Sal Ferrara

Todd Siwak, operating partner of Catterton Partners, the investor group that owns Ferrara Candy, sent a letter to staff on Monday, March 10, 2014, saying that Sal had told them in February that he was planning to leave.

“For the past 40 years, Sal has worked passionately for Ferrara Pan and has been a strong advocate for the entire candy industry,” Siwak writes. “Among his many accomplishments, Sal was instrumental in the successful merger of Ferrara Pan and Farley’s & Sathers in 2012. On behalf of the entire Ferrara Candy team, I’d like to thank Sal for his dedicated service to our customers and his devotion to our employees.”

He also says he’s confident that Ferrara Candy will continue to succeed even after Sal Ferrara leaves.

“I am highly confident in our ability to continue growing our business and drawing more customers to our wide array of snacks and confections,” he writes.

When Ferrara Pan Candy Co. and Farley’s & Sather’s merged June 18, 2012, they created a billion-dollar, full-line confectionery company.

The two companies had merged soon after Sal’s father Nello passed away.

Shortly after the deal was complete, Sal told Candy Industry Magazine,that he had kept his father abreast of the negotiations from the very beginning.

“So he would ask me about what was going on.  ‘What is it going to be called,’ he asked me.  I said ‘Ferrara Candy Co.’ He smiled. ‘Who’s going to run it?’ ‘I’m the chairman and ceo.’ He was pleased.”

In January 2012, Nello Ferrara became sick and he passed away Feb. 3 of that same year.

Sal has not said publicly what his next step will be, but there is speculation that he will return to the confectionery industry in some capacity.

Ferrara Candy manufactures candy originally made by Ferrara Pan Candy Co., including: Lemonheads, Red Hots, Black Forest, Atomic Fireballs and Boston Baked Beans, as well as candy originally made by Farley's & Sathers, including: Brach's, Now and Later, Trolli, and Chuckles.