The thieves who broke into a Sunoco convenience store in Bristol, Connecticut, on March 13, 2024, at 4:08 a.m. had a plan. Like the criminal masterminds who stole the French crown jewels from the Louvre, the Bristol bandits knew speed was of the essence, executing a smash-and-grab in which they took only the things of greatest value: cigarettes, lottery tickets, and the store’s supply of Nerds Gummy Clusters.
Not exactly the kind of promotional campaign Ferrara Candy Company chief marketing officer Greg Guidotti ’99 MBA might have wanted but, nevertheless, a testimony to the remarkable popularity of Ferrara’s newest brand phenomenon.
“The thing got a little bit of press, which was lovely,” says Guidotti, “and hilarious when the television camera panned to the candy shelf and there was a giant hole where the Gummy Clusters used to be.”
Guidotti got his MBA at UConn Stamford, studying and taking classes at night while working for Kraft Foods, handling their Post cereals account, learning the ins and outs on the job, and gaining a foundational understanding of marketing from UConn.
He left Kraft for Gillette (now P&G), moving his family to Singapore to expand the market for Duracell batteries. He traveled to Russia, Venezuela, and across Asia, growing the Duracell business from three to 12 countries before Kraft called to invite him back. He worked with iconic brands like Capri-Sun, Kool-Aid, Shake ’N Bake, and Oscar Mayer — with its Wienermobile.
But Guidotti was reunited with his first love when he moved to Ferrara in 2019. “When I was growing up in Stamford, there was a store called Happy House, and it was 93 seconds away from my house. I know that because me and my friends would ride our bikes as fast as we could to get Atomic Fireballs. I’m 55, so 48 years later, Atomic Fireballs is one of the brands in our portfolio.”
