Who owns DOTS?
DOTS is owned by Tootsie Roll (the United States, NYSE: TR).[1]
Evidence: Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-02-27, SEC EDGAR, 27 February 2026. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. verified
- Owner HQ
- 🇺🇸 United States, Chicago
- Origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- Category
- Food › Confectionery › Candy & sugar confectionery
- Parent ticker
- NYSE: TR
- Trademark registrant
- Tootsie Roll Industries, LLC (USPTO)
- Last verified
- · 2 sources
About DOTS
DOTS, formerly sold as Mason Dots, is a candy brand that Tootsie Roll Industries took on in 1972 together with Crows, according to the company history page. DOTS is made at the Chicago location along with Tootsie Roll Pops, and is listed as a registered trademark in the company 10-K. The brand name should not be confused with Dot's Homestyle Pretzels, which is a different company.
How often Tootsie Roll names DOTS in its annual report
A plain count of the times the name appears in the text of each annual report, not counting the start of a sentence. A brand that an owner writes about more is usually one it treats as central.
Trademark record for DOTS
The USPTO record for the DOTS mark lists Tootsie Roll Industries, LLC as the owner of record (serial number 73137827). That name matches the owner named above.[2]
Ownership timeline of DOTS
- Current owner Tootsie Roll [1] verified
Where DOTS sits in Tootsie Roll
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Tootsie Roll ownership tree →
See the full Tootsie Roll brand portfolio (10) →
Other brands owned by Tootsie Roll
Tootsie Roll controls 10 brands on Brandtree, 10 of them in food.
Also in food
Other brands in candy & sugar confectionery, and who owns them
The 83 brands in candy & sugar confectionery on Brandtree belong to 36 owners. The largest is Cloetta, with 6; Tootsie Roll has 6.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Ahlgrens bilar | Cloetta | 🇸🇪 Sweden |
| Bottle Caps | Ferrero | 🇮🇹 Italy |
| Bon Bon Bum | Colombina | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
| Candy Kittens | Katjes International | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| Airheads | Perfetti Van Melle | 🇳🇱 Netherlands |
| Goldbears | Haribo | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| Háls | Nói Síríus | 🇮🇸 Iceland |
| Jolly Rancher | Hershey | 🇺🇸 United States |
About the owner: Tootsie Roll
Tootsie Roll is a publicly listed company headquartered in Chicago, United States, founded in 1896. Brandtree records 10 brands under its control, and it is listed as NYSE: TR.
Tootsie Roll Industries is a Virginia-incorporated confectionery manufacturer headquartered at 7401 South Cicero Avenue, Chicago. Its history page says the business began in 1896 with the Tootsie Roll and grew through acquisitions of other candy brands, most recently Andes Candies (2000) and Concord Confections (2004). Its 10-K describes confectionery as its only line of business, with plants in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Spain and principal markets in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Brand acquisition years below come from the company history page (tootsie.com/history); the 10-K lists the trademarks but does not give dates.
Tootsie Roll: full profile, brands and acquisition history →
🇺🇸 DOTS and other American brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 2,399 brands that began in the United States. 461 of them (19%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; DOTS is not one of them.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of DOTS?
The parent company of DOTS is Tootsie Roll, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United States.
Is DOTS American?
Yes. DOTS originated in the United States and its owner, Tootsie Roll, is also headquartered in the United States.
Is DOTS still owned by Tootsie Roll?
Yes. As of 3 October 2026, DOTS is still owned by Tootsie Roll. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (2) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-02-27 — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 10-K, published 27 February 2026; retrieved 3 October 2026.
- [2] USPTO: DOTS, serial 73137827 — United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark registry; retrieved 3 October 2026.
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