Hammond'S candies: candy Denver hammondscandies.com.

Carl Hammond started his eponymous candy factory in 1920 and conceived of a breakthrough product the following decade the Mitchell Sweet.

The caramel coated marsh mallow treat is still a top seller for Hammond's Candies CEO Andy Schuman estimates the company has made more than 20 million of them in the past 80 years using a time-tested, three-day process.

"It's cool process to watch," says Schuman. "We cannot make enough of them."

Schuman led the acquisition of the company in 2007 and has helped catalyze 20 to 25 percent annual growth in the years since New candy bars, a line of CMO- and com syrup-free natural candies, and the acquisition of a Virginia-based maker of peanut brittle have underpinned the growth.

New for 2014 is a line of...