As Airheads Turns 40, Longtime Employee Remembers the Candy’s Early Days (Exclusive)
By: Erin Clements, People
Shortly before graduating from high school in 1984, Paul Steffen took a summer job at a candy company in Kentucky, where he got an early taste of Airheads.
As the candy turns 40 this year, Steffen — who still works for Perfetti Van Melle — reflected on its enduring appeal in an interview with PEOPLE.
Steffen, now 60, recalled summers in middle school when he and his friends would search for empty Coke bottles to redeem for change at a local convenience store, which he would use to buy candy.
“I’ve always been fascinated with candy,” he says, remembering that he would even tell his friends that he’d one day work for a candy company.
When he was finishing high school, his assistant principal notified him of a summer job opportunity; it turned out to be at Van Melle, which was then known for making Mentos. (Perfetti SpA later acquired Van Melle in 2001, creating the company’s current iteration, Perfetti Van Melle).
“That was a dream come true,” he says. “That was an answered prayer.”
After becoming the company’s 21st employee, Steffen was invited into a QA lab to taste a new product in development, a yet-to-be-named cherry dough.
Van Melle had produced a nutritional fruit-based product called VitAlive in Europe, and purchased equipment to experiment with the concept in the U.S. When it didn’t take off, the team used the machinery to develop a new fruity taffy candy.
“It was full of flavor, it was bold, it was great,” Steffen recalls. “I said, ‘This is a winner. What are we going to do with it?'”
The vice president of QA told him that the candy dough would be tested in kids’ focus groups throughout the U.S.
He adds that the name “Airheads” came out of these children’s focus groups.
The candy’s original logo had three balloons to represent Airheads’ first three flavors — cherry, watermelon and strawberry — but as the company expanded the varieties, it was changed to a balloon mascot, known as Oscar.
Steffen’s first job at the company was in the mail room and customer service, and he later achieved his goal of working in transportation. He arranged the first export when Airheads shipped its first international product to the Netherlands in 1989.
He’s now the facility manager for Perfetti Van Melle’s 388,800-square-foot distribution center and warehouse in Erlanger, Ky.
Four decades after Airheads’ release in 1986, Steffen understands why generations of people have nostalgia for the colorful candy.
“Today’s adults, they remember growing up with Airheads,” he says, noting that it brings back memories from “the swimming pool, sporting events, or kids’ sporting events,” and now fans who grew up with it get to introduce it to their kids.
He adds, “You can remember a time and place where you were when you first had it. And it’s just a lot of fun.”
While the company is sponsoring its own anniversary celebration, Steffen says he’s planning an Airheads-themed party at his house, with family, friends, neighbors and close coworkers in attendance.
“My kids grew up with it and my grandkids are growing up with it,” he explains. The festivities will include games, a cake featuring the candy’s red balloon mascot and a chance to “reminisce about Airheads and just relish in the moment.”
Steffen says he’s proud that the company’s “mission has remained the same” over his four decades there.
“We want to make a good quality product, and it’s demonstrated through our workers, our colleagues that are in manufacturing. They’re committed to showing up, making Airheads an exceptional product, and just being part of a successful winning company,” he says, noting that he hopes the company sees “another 40 years of Airheads.”
“That’s not heard of these days, the number of years that I’ve worked for Perfetti Van Melle,” he adds. “And I just show up every day, give the best that I can offer, my skills, abilities and talents. I bring that to the table every day. I’m living out my dreams every day.”