Wholesale Confectionery - Swizzels Matlow Range Now Available

Sweets manufactured by the Swizzels Matlow company are sold in more than 20 countries around the world. As well as being enjoyed by children, the widely-recognised sweets also enjoy a cult status among adults in the UK, popular for their retro value and unique flavour combinations.

Harrison’s Direct are excited to announce that we now stock the most popular items from the Swizzels Matlow range, at our usual attractive trade-only prices.

The company grew from being a market stall in London owned by brothers Alfred and Maurice Matlow in the 1920s, from which they sold their popular home-made jellied sweets. As their popularity increased, they earned enough to buy a small factory on the outskirts of the city in 1928, becoming known as the Matlow Brothers and extending their product range to include chews as well as their now-famous jellied sweets. The owner of a rival factory in the area, David Dee, merged with the increasingly-popular Matlow Brothers in 1933, bringing a new form of sweet to the range; the fizzy compressed tablet sweet. During the Blitz in 1940, the company was forced to relocate to New Mills in Derbyshire, from where it still produces vast amounts of sweets; 20% of these are exported while the other 80% are sold in Britain, earning the company around £47 million in 2010-11. Since 2004, the company has used no hydrogenated fats in its products and has additionally not used any artificial colourings since 2009.

The first Swizzels Matlow product joining our range is Rainbow Drops, a sweet and crunchy treat. Formed from puffed rice and maize, Rainbow Drops feature colourful sugar coatings and have a truly unique taste and texture. These sweets, with their enticing orange, green, yellow and pink lustrous coatings, sold over 14 million bags last year, enough to fill 25 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Parma Violets are the oldest surviving sweet to still be produced by Swizzels Matlow. Introduced to the public in 1946, the delicately-fragranced sweets instantly divided public opinion, some claiming them to be delicious while others found them revolting. Parma Violets have stubbornly remained immensely popular throughout this ongoing row, which culminated with the business considering a recipe change in 2003. A public campaign to prevent this from happening was swiftly launched and the company bowed to public pressure and decided to retain the original flavour.

Refreshers are one of the most popular Swizzels Matlow products; small, chewy sweets with a refreshing lemon flavour that feature a sparkling and fizzy sherbet centre. Refreshers were the invention of Trevor Matlow, a family member who joined the business and was experimenting with a new chew-wrapping machine. During these experiments, he discovered that he could easily insert powder into chews and Refreshers, which remain mostly unchanged to this day, were born. Last year, more than 5,000 tons of Refreshers were sold.

Although Refreshers are one of the most popular Swizzels Matlow products, Love Hearts are the firm’s most iconic. Launched in 1954, these fizzy round candies, each emblazoned with a romantic message, were an instant hit and have never lost their popularity. Today’s Love Hearts, while still featuring the traditional messages such as ‘I Love You’ and ‘Be Mine’, are brought firmly into the 21st century with the addition of messages such as ‘Text Date’ and ‘E-Mail Me’.

These products are now available as part of our extensive selection of wholesale confectionery.

For further information, advice and support on our range of wholesale products, please contact our dedicated customer service team on 01254 306840 or email sales@harrisonsdirect.co.uk.