Crackheads Candy

Jitterbeans Launched! New Osmanium.com Website!

Love the Crackheads® product, but not the name? To please you we created a new name for our new ultra caffeinated Crackheads2® product to put your mind at ease. Please visit: www.JitterbeansCandy.com

Jitterbeans™ was officially launched October 14th, 2008 along with this new Jitterbeans.com website! We have been getting a great response. People love the taste and the nice caffeine kick!

We also have a bulk vending machine opportunity for interested individuals at www.RenegadeEnergyGroup.com Shortly there will be a banner on the site.

Journal Sentinel Newspaper Article on Osmanium October 16th, 2008

Here is an article on Osmanium that appeared in the October 16th, 2008 newspaper.

View Article Here

Big dreams from beans By KRISTINE HANSEN Special to the Journal Sentinel Posted: Oct. 16, 2008

Who he is:

John Osmanski

What he does:

Owns Osmanium, which makes chocolate-covered espresso beans

John Osmanski's boutique candy empire got its first jolt during an all-night video game session at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, before he was even a student there.

"I essentially made a big pancake of chocolate and coffee," he said.

Osmanski, 27, is the founder and owner of Osmanium, a Milwaukee company that produces chocolate-covered espresso beans under the names Jitter Beans, Crackheads and Crackheads2.

He still loves to snack on the chocolates, which are sold in 1.3-ounce boxes at local stores, including Outpost Natural Foods Co-op, Beans & Barley and Koppa's Farwell Foods.

"If you don't love it, what's the purpose?" he said.

Who he is: John Osmanski

What he does: Owns Osmanium, which makes chocolate-covered espresso beans

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Crackheads is what Osmanski and his MSOE classmates - he graduated in 2006, with a degree in biomedical engineering - called people who tried to function without a morning cup of coffee.

One box of Crackheads2 / Jitterbeans chocolate-covered espresso beans, he says, is equal to the caffeine in six cups of coffee, 7 1/2 energy drinks or 11 cans of cola.

Since starting his company in 2004, Osmanski has expanded it from a handcrafted operation to a large-scale company.

While he used to make the chocolates on a double-boiler in his kitchen ("just to see if anyone would like them") and print the boxes at a local Kinko's, today he employs a team in Madison to assemble the boxes, and the chocolates are made at a plant elsewhere in the Midwest.

In September, Osmanski signed a deal with another company to make and sell customized vending machines (dispensing a handful of his chocolates for 50 cents) to universities, hospitals, stores and other businesses.

So far, the venture has sold a couple hundred of the machines.

"I don't know if this would happen if I were in, say, Texas," Osmanski said. "I like this city a lot. The traditional way of business does apply, but there's so many other methods. You can use your friends and family as a test market, for instance."

It's all a far cry from his first business, a skateboard shop in Wales that he sold after a year to concentrate on college.

"Everything is happening all at once," he said.

CRACKHEADS2 Launched!

Hello hello,

Finally we have our new product(s) launched. There is a sister website for our product, Jitterbeans(tm), which is the same as the Crackheads2 product but marketed in a different way. These new products provide a delicious rich chocolate and coffee taste, along with a huge caffeine kick. Crackheads2 will help motivate you throughout your do no matter what you do. The problems in dealing with hot liquid coffee and odd tasking energy drinks is over. Enjoy a pick-me-up anytime, anywhere!

Each box of Crackheads2(tm) / Jitterbeans(tm) contains the approximate equivalent of 6 cups of coffee, 7.5 energy drinks, or 11 cans of cola!

You will also notice more changes to the website in the next week or so as we update each section with new Crackheads2 information.

Please let us know if you have any questions,

-Osmanium

EDIT: Dec 3rd, 2008: Crackheads2 is available at 550 F.Y.E stores across the United States as well as many of the retailers that currently carry Crackheads. The list will be updated soon, we have become professional jugglers lately....Sort of. Lookup your nearest F.Y.E location here

NEW PRODUCT SNEAK PEEK

Everyone is awaiting the new product employment, and it is almost here! Below is a sneak peek of the new product.

New Product Name: Crackheads squared(r) and Jitterbeans(tm)

Now in 2 names for your delectable pleasure

Features:

Delicious flavor

600mg of Caffeine per box! That iss 6 cups of coffee, 7.5 Red Bulls(r) and 11 cans of Mountain Dew(r)!

Delicious rich dark chocolate(avg. 60% cocoa), espresso bean center, light candy shell, and Caffeine added.

Retail Price per box: $3.25, that is about than $0.50 per cup of coffee!

Totally legal, functional, good for you, and NO HYDROGENATED OILS or HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUPS

More to follow....

Crackheads caffeine re-test, martinis, website updates

Hello there,

Amongst other things the caffeine of Crackheads was re-tested and is actually pulling an average of 200mg per box. That is about 2.5 8 ounce Red Bulls or 2 cups of coffee per box. The caffeine level per box depends on the amount of white chocolate vs. dark chocolate pieces in each container. So, for all you caffeine junkies out there eat up!

Also Crackheads make a delightful chocolate martini addition. Crushed Crackheads on top melt into the drink and make it neural numbingly good. Be sure to use decent grade alcohol to avoid the noid(hangovers) the next day.

There will be some website changes happening; some clearance sweatshirts with the old logo, updating retail locations, news page, etc. eventually. Also we are proud to have sponsored the Fragapalooza LAN in Canada last week.

What's New!

Hello hello,

It has been a few weeks since we exhibited at the All Candy Expo and our minute on CNBC, and a lot has been happening since. We currently opened up a bunch of new clients(find us pages to be updated as soon as I can prod our web developer), closing some expansion programs, and a slew of other items(such as a potential gummy product). We also currently employ the services of over 80 handicapped individuals in Wisconsin to help with some of our fulfillment services. Wee Haaa!

P.S. Juggling 2 companies, full time work, a marriage, and law school isn't easy, sorry for the lack of responses to e-mails at times.

P.P.S. I'm looking for some ANSI artists, where you ever in an art group? iCE, ACiD, CiA, no not really? Contact me if you want to do a logo or two.

John

Watch the CNBC Crackheads Segment!

Someone posted it up on YouTube:

Thoughts on the Donnie Deutsch experience

Hello,

We are finally back from the Donnie Deutsch show and the All Candy Expo, what a busy week. I finally have some time to talk a little bit about my experience on Donnie Deutsch.

First I am thankful for the experience and everyone was quite nice. Troy, Brian, Pam, Dr. Love, the bundt cake women, and I hung out before the show and everyone was very nice and are all great people. We didn't see Kevin until the shoot, but he was so genuinely kind on the set that it put me at ease.

In regard to the show I think it went really, really well. I didn't want to defend Crackheads to much as I thought the segment might get cut if I pointed out that Donnie apparently didn't do ANY background research on the product or target market. Crackheads is a humorous gourmet product and I think everyone had a good laugh with it. Heck, Crackheads and Kevin Nealon? AWESOME.

I think Donnie missed to boat on the products intended market. Our target market is not mass retail, of course some people have an issue with the name. The target market is 18 to 45ish tech savvy individuals(although if you are outside this range that is ok too). Next I do not think there is a problem with children buying and eating this product any more than a the potential of a child to purchase a cup of coffee or energy drink and ingest it. Little kids generally don't like coffee and should not be ingesting caffeine anyway. Crackheads is not marketed or packaged to appeal to children either. Blather Blather.

Donnie was very nice but didn't talk to any of us before the show, he was pretty much all business. I honestly don't see how Donnie could give an endorsement of the product even if he did like it as he could/would be scrutinized for it.

Crackheads isn't meant to just make a buck and changing the name would be like changing who you are, you just can't do it. Believe me, we have kicked around hundred's of names that we could use to make a more politically correct version of Crackheads. We will always keep Crackheads, although we may introduce another name that is more politically correct in the future. However the product will not be something called, "Energy Beans", or "Zoom Zoom Balls". Do you really think we would have gotten on the show with a name like that? P-shaw. Boring.

Crackheads is unique from many aspects, not just the name. First the product is definitely gourmet, but not in stuffy gourmet packaging. I hear people calling other people Crackheads all the time, heck on the show you see the comedic aspects of "Crackheads" come out, even Donnie chuckled.

Someone also posted the clip on YouTube, which can be seen at:

Click Here

Also, thank you for all of the orders and e-mails with suggestions, they are all very helpful!

EDIT: Added 5-30-08

I forgot to comment on the "mass market saying no to anything with an illegal drug reference" that Donnie mentioned in the show. Umm, did no one mention that Kevin Nealon's hit show, "The Weeds" is about drug dealers? Also, the best selling DVD release of a tv series of all time is Dave Chapelle, which has quite a few comedic crackhead references in it as well. Also These DVD's along with candy cigarettes and candy chewing product(Which I think is a no no) are sold to the masses without complaint. Crazy, whoda thunk.

T-shirts to be available for purchase SOON

We have receieved a slew of inquiries about purchasing t-shirts and hooded sweatshirts. In the next few days they will be added to site to be purchased. We also have some older shirts that will be clearanced as well.

Exhibiting at the All Candy Expo May 20th - 22nd, 2008!

We will be exhibiting at illustrious All Candy Expo at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL May 20th - 22nd, 2008. Will post some pics of the booth soon.

If you can make it in, it is well worth it!