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CNN Saturday Morning News

Peeps Remain Popular Easter Treat

Aired April 14, 2001 - 07:26   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Easter baskets are big business, and tomorrow they will magically appear before millions of delighted youngsters. And a popular little Easter chicken is laying a golden egg for its manufacturer.

Paula Harrington (ph) has the scoop on Peeps.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HARRINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These days, portfolios are like Easter baskets. They have to have the perfect mix. Take a straw basket, fill it with paper shavings, jelly beans, chocolate rabbits, plastic eggs, and, of course, those infamous Peeps. Last Easter, more than 600 million marshmallow Peeps were consumed by kids of all ages across the country.

Just Born Incorporated began manufacturing the marshmallow chicks in 1953, only back then it took 27 hours to create one Peep. Today it takes about six minutes. Peeps has been America's top-selling non- chocolate Easter candy brand for the last decade.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Peep is the number one item. I don't understand it, because it's just marshmallow sugary candy. But we sell tons of it.

HARRINGTON: And if you're watching your waistline, each Peep has only 32 calories. That's 160 calories for a five-chick serving, and zero grams of fat.

Easter is the second-largest candy-selling season behind Halloween, and it just keeps getting sweeter. Easter sales are expected to reach $1.9 billion this year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even in spite of some failing economic numbers, we think that Easter sales are going to be up over last year, probably in the area of 4 to 5 percent.

HARRINGTON: So despite warnings from dentists, candy makers can still count on healthy sales, because kids in the U.S. will eat millions of Peeps, millions of bunnies, and millions of jelly beans this Easter.

In New York, I'm Paula Harrington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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