Swizzels

History

The story of Swizzels begins in the early 1920s with a market stall in Hackney, London, run by Maurice and Alfred Matlow, who sold jellied sweets. By 1928 they had a small east London factory and traded as Matlow Brothers, making jellies and chews. In 1933 they merged with David Dee, a rival whose specialty was fizzy compressed tablet sweets, though the company name Swizzels Matlow Ltd was not adopted until 1975. The Blitz of 1940 forced a move north to a former wick factory in New Mills, Derbyshire, which remains the company’s home. Parma Violets arrived in 1946, Love Hearts in 1954, and Drumsticks in 1957. Hydrogenated fats were removed in 2004, and artificial flavourings were dropped in 2009. With around 600 employees, the firm reported revenues of £47 million in 2010/11. It exports 20% of its output to over 20 countries, mainly in Europe, and Halloween is its peak sales period.

Products

Refreshers, officially named New Refreshers to avoid trademark confusion with Barratt's compressed tablet Refreshers, are flat chewy sweets with sherbet in the middle, available in lemon and strawberry flavours. Parma Violets are disc-shaped sweets similar to Fizzers but all lilac coloured with an almost 'scenty' taste and no fizziness; Giant Parma Violets have also been released. The Drumstick sweet is a chewy lolly about 5 cm in length with milk and raspberry flavours, now vegan, and has had special editions such as lime and orange.

In 2012, Drumstick Squashies were launched, foam-like chewy sweets with the same flavour, and several flavour variations including bubblegum have been released. In 2020, a Drumstick Chocolate Bar was released, consisting of milk chocolate with a raspberry and milk flavour filling and freeze-dried raspberry pieces, suitable for vegetarians. Other products include Banana Skids, Climpies, Double Lollies, Fruity Pops, Fun Gums, Snap & Crackle, Mr Chews, Rainbow Dust, Rainbow Drops, Love Hearts, Double Dip, Tango Orange Flavour Chew Bar, Stinger Tutti-Fruiti Flavour Chew Bar, and Crystal Fruits.