Savouring the sweet secrets of success

WHEN I asked the general manager of Crediton fudge-making company Bristow's for the secret behind its sweet treats he laughed.

"Recipes for confectionery are highly confidential," said Dean Silverslide, who has been with the company for five years.

"It really is like Willy Wonka's chocolate factory; a good fudge or toffee recipe is very valuable.

"It has taken decades of tweaking and playing around with to achieve and plenty of confectioners are dying to get their hands on it."

Bristow's had been trading since 1932 and has many loyal, local customers. And it's future is looking rosier than anyone could have dared to imagine 18 months ago.

The company was founded by Charles Bristow, a chocolatier who introduced Swiss milk chocolate into this country at the end of the 19th century.

Charles was 65 when he started the business; it is thought he was bored of being retired. He specialised in butterscotch, rather than chocolate.

George Bristow, Charles' youngest son, returned to Crediton from South Africa and a career in shipping. He took responsibility for building up the business, initially with butterscotch then other boiled sweets, followed by toffee and finally fudge in 1959.

It was passed down to George's sons Frank and Kenneth to run. They had both trained in London to make chocolate and sugar confectionery, a course which no longer exists.

Bristow's bought Cameo, of Edinburgh — a Scottish distributor of confectionery — in 1992.

The following year it took over the other two main South West confectionery companies, Pollards and Tucker's of Totnes. Its Newton Abbot factory was closed in 1994 and all manufacturing moved to Bristow's, in Crediton.

On December 12, 2008, the company, which by this point was one of the town's biggest employers, went into receivership and all 69 members of staff lost their jobs.

However, the company was saved by Andrew Walsh, who owns Scottish confectionery firm Millar McCowan, and is a major shareholder of Thornycroft, a confectionery importing and distribution business in St Albans, Hertfordshire.

Mr Walsh lives near Poole and regularly visits the Crediton factory.

In January 2009, production of fudge, toffee and bonbons resumed at the factory on the Lords Meadow industrial estate, under the name Bristow's Confectionery.

Half the former workforce was rehired in January and the number of staff has now grown to 85.

The company has gone from producing 22 tons of confectionery a week to a minimum of 52 tons.

It is now one of the largest fudge makers in the country and the market leaders in souvenir sweets.

Dean, who was appointed general manager after the reshuffle, says demand is bigger than ever.

"We supply over 5,500 independent retailers, including supermarket chains like Somerfield and Lidl," he said.

"Demand for the product has grown significantly and the new owner has brought with him contacts across multiple sectors.

"We now have two workforce shifts to produce twice as many sweets. Andrew has centralised all sales administration from Millar McCowan to our Crediton office because of our expertise."

The fudge and toffee come in a range of flavours, including clotted cream, vanilla, orange and chocolate, but the company can produce any flavour a customer wants.

Dean said: "Wherever possible we try to use local ingredients, such as milk and clotted cream.

"We use the Cullompton wholesalers Bako for lots of our ingredients."

Bristow's produces two types of bon-bon, a hard toffee version and a new, soft-eating one, which is chewier

The hard bon-bon comes in toffee, strawberry, lemon, apple, blackcurrent and clotted cream flavours.

"The soft-eating bon-bon is unique," said Dean.

"We only launched it recently and already everyone seems to like it. The nice thing is that it appeals to young children and older people who found it difficult to chew the original bon-bons.

"We also make Vimto bon-bons which are tasty."

Dean is ambitious about the company's future and is certain there will be no 'fudge-ups' under Andrew's experienced reign.

"Our plans for the future are simply to make even more confectionery and to supply to even more people," he said.

"We want to maximise what we've got already and, eventually, we would like to be the most successful confectioner in the UK."

For more information, please call 01363 778645.