In 1964, a dip in the sugar futures market prompted Sam Born, owner of the Just Born confectionery company, to place the largest sugar order in the history of the Chicago Mercantile exchange in order to capitalize on the low prices. Despite a moderate bull market later that year, the price of sugar did not increase appreciably. With Brazil forecasting a bumper crop of sugar cane in the following spring, Born was forced by his broker to either take delivery of his sugar, or sell his holdings at a loss. Born decided to lock in his losses, and ran the Marshmallow Peeps factory 24/7 for the remainder of 1965, even adding shifts over the Christmas holiday in order to avoid hefty storage fees. Peeps sold better than expected during the spring of 1966, but a broader marketing campaign targeting the breakfast cereal market failed to produce results, and the excess stock of marshmallow Peeps had to be warehoused in a decommissioned salt mine. In 2017, the last of the Peeps produced in 1965 was shipped to wholesalers, and the production line was restarted after being idle for 52 years.