Inside the corner of a Manchester factory straight from a sweet-lover's dream
Love Hearts are in the air as Swizzels prepares for the most romantic day of the year
The smell that hits you as you enter the room is utterly addictive. Sugary sweet with a hint of bitter almonds and vanilla, it's like a bakery - just one that has been distilled to its most concentrated essence.
The air is so thick with powder that even just breathing in feels like youâre taking a bite. If you could bottle that smell into perfume, it could sell into the thousands.
The M.E.N. is inside the Love Hearts room at the Swizzels factory in New Mills. Giant metal funnels come down from the ceiling, the air filled with clatter as they spill out freshly pressed sweets in their classic colours of pastel pink, green and white.
Valentine's Day is around the corner, and Swizzels Matlow is preparing for one of the romantic days of the year. This room is a hive of activity.
The company started life in London in 1928, with brothers Albert and Maurice selling jellied sweets from a market in Hackney. In 1940, they made the move up north to escape German bombing raids during the Blitz.
When many imagine food manufacturing, they immediately think of the uber-modern: white plastic and silver metal, sterile and clean but impersonal. It is unlikely their mind conjures up a building dating back to the Victorian era.
But thatâs what makes Swizzels different. It is housed in Albion Mill, a former candle wick factory built in 1859.
The Swizzels factory in New Mills - the building formerly known as Albion Mill (Image: Manchester Evening News)While the space inside has been transformed for Swizzels into a modern and efficient setup (with a brand new staff canteen from which delicious lunch smells are emanating), its gritstone walls, steep staircases and whitewashed bricks seem largely unaltered.
It's difficult not to be charmed by the thought that these sweets, which are sent out in their millions all over the world (Norwegians apparently âcanât get enoughâ of Love Hearts), come from a quintessential English mill.
In our modern age, where scores of these pieces of our local industrial heritage have been converted into boutiques, galleries and apartments, and thatâs the lucky ones that arenât just left to ruin or demolished, thereâs an undeniable pleasure seeing a mill in use and actually making things â and employing nearly 600 local people to boot.
Today, everything from Swizzels' star-studded line up of childhood classics is made here in New Mills, including drumsticks, parmaviolets, fizzers and fruity pop lollies. Only Squashies are made in their second factory in Middlewich.
The M.E.N were shown around the Love Hearts section of the factory - rather fittingly with Valentineâs Day just days away. This year Swizzels has released a special edition of their softer Squashies sweets in the iconic Love Hearts flavours.
Freshly-made Love Hearts are funnelled down to the sorting room. (Image: Manchester Evening News)Rattling around at the bottom of your grandmaâs handbag; a staple of party bags at childrenâs birthdays; working up the courage to hand one to the person you fancied on the playground: Love Hearts are undoubtedly a staple of British life and have been ever since production began in 1954.
Tastes have of course changed and evolved in the intervening years, leading to the creation of Squashies, launched in 2012, which has since become one of the brandâs most popular products.
Iâm told this shift towards softer, chewier sweets reflects a change in lifestyles: people now seem to gravitate toward foods that are easier to eat (i.e. snaffle one-handed while you watch TV).
âWith traditional hard sweets, there was more portion control,â said Claire Lee, Senior Brand Manager. âYou would eat them more slowly â a variety mix might last a week or so in the cupboard. But Squashies are easier and quicker to consume â and people go for ease and convenience now.â
While Squashies are one of Swizzels' most popular products â especially so with children â so are Love Hearts. The New Mills factory produces over 40 million individual Love Hearts every week.
We werenât allowed into the room upstairs to see what goes into them, some things have to stay a mystery, says our guide, but we still caught a glimpse behind the scenes at how the sweets are sorted and packaged into the iconic rolls we know and love.
Love Hearts are arranged into neat rows ready to be wrapped. (Image: Manchester Evening News)The room is filled by scores of boxes piled high with mounds of Love Hearts - where that heavenly smell is coming from. Theyâre separated by colour, but that doesnât really matter as all get chucked in together down another metal funnel, following gravity down to the floor below where they are sorted and packed.
Downstairs are rows and rows of work stations and conveyor belts, manned by skilled staff in white coats and hairnets, standing vigilant watch over the hypnotising process.
Love Hearts pour down from above onto the conveyor belt, where they are then shaken (presumably to remove excess sugar dust). From the mass of colours they then slot at random into neat little files, a tweezer-wielding staff member standing by to remove any defective discs.
Then the sugary circles are pressed together into a roll and bound tightly in the distinctive Love Hearts red and white branding.
The whole process canât take more than about 20 seconds, with the machine letting loose another new roll about once a second. Itâs not hard to see how they reach that 40 million a week figure
.
Staff inside the Swizzels factory. They employ nearly 600 people (Image: Manchester Evening News)While the process looks incredibly fast and streamlined to my untrained eye, Swizzels' newer site in Middlewich is said to be even more modern and automated. But senior brand manager Claire says there are no plans to make any changes to the more traditional way of working at the New Mills site.
âI donât see why we would,â she told the M.E.N. âWe have the space here, it works perfectly well, and weâre accommodating the local community who live around here.â
âWeâre proud to have innovation on one side but keep the traditional, heritage product on the other the same as it always has been."
Everything from Swizzels' star-studded line up of childhood classics is made here (Image: Manchester Evening News)Beccy Elliott, marketing executive at Swizzels, agreed: âOne of the things we are most proud of is that we are a family-run company - and have been for four generations.â
âLots of our employees have been here for a long time and live nearby, so it feels quite close knit.â
âWe are one of the only family owned confectioners still left in the country, and Love Hearts have been loved for more than 70 years â we donât want to change that.â
Todd Haynes, who is serving as Berlin Film Festival jury president, spoke out against Donald Trump's administration during a press conference.
Read more >> : Cick here
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
As he continues his legal battle against Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni faces a whole new wave of challenges that could potentially harm his career.
Read more >> : Cick here
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
ACTOR Sean Bean is to star in a new TV series depicting the classic British hero story of Robin Hood. Sean Bean, who starred in Bafta award winning BBC series Time, will join the cast and take the âŠ
Read more >> : Cick here
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
The project's future now reportedly hangs in the balance, with producers considering quitting
Read more >> : Cick here
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
After the Watergate scandal, the political establishment ushered in a wave of reforms meant to constrain the president. Many have already fallen by the wayside, and Trump is challenging what's left.
Read more >> : Cick here
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Orson Welles was one of the most influential directors in cinema history, and there was one thing he wanted young filmmakers to stop doing.
Read more >> : Cick here
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
âSummer Houseâ season 9 premiered on Bravo Wednesday, February 12, and revealed a preview of Paige DeSorboâs life after Craig Conover split
Read more >> : Cick here
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
ACTRESS Natalia Cassidy has confessed that it was not her choice how character Sonia Fowler exits EastEnders in the coming weeks. News that Natalie, 41, had opted to quit the BBC programme sent shoâŠ
Read more >> : Cick here
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
New series set to premiere in 2026 or 2027
Read more >> : Cick here
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
The monarch, 76, visited the stadium yesterday where he met people who had been helped by his charity.
Read more >> : Cick here
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Twitter (X), Inc. was an American social media company based in San Francisco, California, which operated and was named for its flagship social media network prior to its rebrand as X. In addition to Twitter, the company previously operated the Vine short video app and Periscope livestreaming service
Twitter (X) is one of the most popular social media platforms, with over 619 million monthly active users worldwide. One of the most exciting features of Twitter (X) is the ability to see what topics are trending in real-time. Twitter trends are a fascinating way to stay up to date on what people are talking about on the platform, and they can also be a valuable tool for businesses and individuals to stay relevant and informed. In this article, we will discuss Twitter (X) trends, how they work, and how you can use them to your advantage.
What are Twitter (X) Worldwide Trends?
Twitter (X) Worldwide trends are a list of topics that are currently being talked about on the platform and also world. The topics on this list change in real-time and are based on the volume of tweets using a particular hashtag or keyword. Twitter (X) Worldwide trends can be localized to a Worldwide country or region or can be global, depending on the topic's popularity.
How Do Twitter (X) Worldwide Trends Work?
Twitter (X) Worldwide trends are generated by an algorithm that analyzes the volume of tweets using a particular hashtag or keyword. When the algorithm detects a sudden increase in tweets using a specific hashtag or keyword, it considers that topic to be trending.
Once a topic is identified as trending, it is added to the list of Twitter (X) Worldwide trends. The topics on this list are ranked based on their popularity, with the most popular topics appearing at the top of the list.
Twitter (X) Worldwide trends can be filtered by location or category, allowing users to see what topics are trending in their area or in a particular industry. Additionally, users can click on a trending topic to see all of the tweets using that hashtag or keyword.