Sweetest deal Down Under for Tangerine

The firm, which has factories in Pontefract, York and Cleckheaton, hopes to double its export business, which is currently worth 8m a year. It has signed a distribution deal with Australian Bulk Foods to supply Taveners and Sherbert Fountain brands to leading supermarkets down under.

Tangerine has not revealed the value of the deal but the firm said its Australian exports will reach 70,000 cases of stock, including three million Sherbet Fountains annually. Each case contains 48 individual packets of the sweets.

Steven Joseph, executive chairman of Tangerine, which has a turnover of 160m, said: "The export potential of brands like the Sherbet Fountain and Taveners is huge, especially in what you might call former colonial markets such as Australia, South Africa, Canada and Hong Kong.

"The pound's weakness against other currencies presents an export opportunity and we plan to double our exports in the next three to five years."

Sherbet Fountains and Taveners Proper Sweets, which are made in Pontefract, are now being sold across Australia in national retail chains Coles, Target and Big W department stores, Independent Grocers Alliance (IGA) Independents.

Geoff Sharp of Australian Bulk Foods, which distributes other Tangerine sweets, said: "Like the UK, we are seeing a revival of iconic English confectionery in Australia. The Sherbet Fountain is one of the most memorable and long established confectionery brands and is ideally placed to capitalise on the wave of nostalgia."

Tangerine has grown substantially in the last year and in February acquired Monkhill Confectionery for 58m. The privately owned company has its head office in Blackpool.

Last year Tangerine caused controversy when it abandoned the paper packaging of Sherbert Fountains in favour of a more hygienic alternative. The firm said this had boosted sales by a fifth.

The firm also makes Barratt, Mojo, Taveners Proper Sweets and Princess Marshmallows and uses its Pontefract base to make the town's eponymous cakes.