Marinus van Dam (October 24, 1929 – January 6, 1997) was one of the first employees at The Herman Goelitz Candy Company.
He rose to the level of vice president before moving on to other companies and finally starting his own business Marich Confectionery.
All jelly beans started out with plain, uncolored starch centers that were merely sweetened with sugar.
He wondered how he could bring this candy to the adult market which David Klein had envisioned, and his solution was to enhance the jelly beans so that they would appeal to everyone.
The first flavors were Very Cherry, Tangerine, Lemon, Green Apple, Grape, Licorice, Root Beer, and Cream Soda.