Nostalgic candy with ’50 cent taste’ could be wiped from shelves for good after 120 years

A CULT classic candy loved by millions faces death after 120 years.

The future of Valomilk candy cups – the gooey, chocolate and marshmallow treat loved by generations – could be wiped from shelves for good after more than a century.

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Russell Sifers, 77, says he’s looking for someone to carry on the legacy of his family’s legendary candy[/caption]

Kansas native and fourth-generation candy maker Russell Sifers, 77, says he’s looking for someone to carry on the legacy of his family’s legendary candy.

However, finding the right steward has proven to be a challenge.

Ever since its launch, the milk chocolate cup with sweet marshmallow filling has been a fan favorite treat for Midwesterners – and it was once even described as ”the 5-cent candy bar with the 50-cent taste”.

It was first created after a marshmallow mishap in the factory – but has since become a firm staple in millions of households.

With its nostalgic red-and-white packaging and handmade quality, Valomilk has resisted the trend of flashy rebrands and limited-edition gimmicks. 

Instead, it’s remained a rare find, often sold at select retailers or Cracker Barrel.

However, the sweet treat was recently dropped by the chain due to quality-control issues with melted stock.   

Russell told The Kansas City Star there had been a ”changing of the guard in the candy business”, one that Valomilk doesn’t have.

Valomilk has also kept its original style while watching rival brands create and relaunch items such as PB&J sandwich M&M’s and Salted Caramel Butterfingers.

”I’d like to find a proper steward. Somebody who can take care of our simple little candy bar — bring it back, improve it, whatever,” he told the publication.

Russell has always been fond of retelling the story of his family’s start in the candy business.

It began in all the way back in 1903, when his great-grandfather Samuel Mitchell Sifers began selling candy in Iola, Kansas.

He moved into a now-torn down Kansas City building in 1916 and discovered the potential of marshmallow candy after a batch had gone wrong in the 1931.

With ”V” standing for vanilla, ”alo” for marshmallow, and ”milk” for the milk-chocolate cups, Valomilk was on its way to achieve candy greatness and stealing the hearts across the nation.

Things took a surprising turn when Russell’s father and grandfather sold Sifers Valomilk Candy Company to Hoffman in 1970.

Russell took over the Valomilk legacy, and after almost giving up on keeping the brand alive, he was inspired to reignite the dream after finding unused equipment 15 years after the Hoffman sale.

”I found stuff like my grandfather’s copper kettles and a gas-fired cooker,” he told the Wall Street Journal. 

”After I did an inventory, I said to myself, ‘You know, I could start making Valomilks the way my grandfather did.”

Russell managed to recreate the old recipe in 1987 and resumed production in Merriam later that same year.

Factory workers take marshmallow and combine it with meringue before pouring it into a mix of corn syrup, sugar, water and salt.

The marshmallow is then left overnight in an insulated box and poured into trays that pass by heads, providing chocolate and air to form the cup.

”I told my dad I was thinking about resurrecting the company. He died before it happened. He never got to see it,” he said.

”But he always said to me — he commanded me — if you bring Valomilks back, make them the best you know how, and don’t worry about the cost. And that’s what we’ve done.”