Friday May 28, 2010

Brooks Wins Kettle Award

John Brooks, Sr. is the recipient of the 2010 Kettle Award, bestowed May 26 during a gala reception held at the Union League Club of Chicago.

“This is a humbling experience and a terrific honor,” he tells Candy & Snack TODAY. “And it was completely unexpected as well.”

As President of Adams & Brooks, Inc., he has enjoyed a long career in the industry, though he first worked as a bio-technician for the Northrop Corp. in 1964. Brooks attended the second National Confectioners Association Candy School and joined his father, Emmert, and his father’s partner, Paul Adams, at the company the two had founded in 1932.

Throughout the following decade, Brooks delved into all aspects of the company, from production and sales to finance. He purchased Adams’ interest in the company in 1974 and succeeded his father as its President in 1975.

His distinguished involvement in the industry includes joining the Western Candy Conference in 1976, and serving as chairman in 1978. In 2001, he received the group’s Distinguished Service Award. He was a member of the NCA board from 1978 to 1982, and again from 1992 to 1996 and was twice elected NCA vice-president, in both 1982 and 1996.

In 2008, Brooks was inducted into the Candy Hall of Fame.

He and wife Tempe, whom he married in 1963, have three children: Christine, Cynthia and John, Jr., in addition to five grandchildren.