Manufacturing

Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls secures order from New Zealand

By Anthony Myers

- Last updated on GMT

John Winnard and Ant Winnard celebrate new export success. Pic: Uncle Joes Mint Balls
John Winnard and Ant Winnard celebrate new export success. Pic: Uncle Joes Mint Balls

Related tags Brexit

British confectionery heritage brand, Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls, has continued its post-Brexit expansion into international markets by securing its first order from New Zealand in more than 10 years.

The move comes in the wake of the free trade agreement between the UK and New Zealand, which was agreed in February, and which is due to come into effect in the coming months.

The agreement will remove all tariffs on trade in goods between the two countries, subject to ‘rules of origin’ which determine where goods are deemed to come from.

The order, for tins of traditional, Wildberry Gin, Dark Rum, Apple Cider and Sugar Free Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls, is from Auckland-based Piccadilly Fine Foods, a tailored food and beverage importer focused on premium artisan international food brands and beverages.

The Uncle Joe’s brand will appear in the Piccadilly Fine Foods catalogue, targeting retailers across New Zealand.

The order follows renewed post-Brexit interest from international markets, with Uncle Joe’s also receiving new orders from Australia, the US and Denmark in recent months.

John Winnard and Ant Winnard, joint managing directors at the Wigan-based premium brand, said that Brexit and the end of Covid restrictions had created an increase in demand for their products.

 “This deal means that Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls will become much more widely available in a country where we know from the letters and emails we receive, that there is a large demand amongst New Zealanders and expats​,” they said in a joint statement.

Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls are made by Wigan-based William Santus and Co Ltd, a privately-owned traditional sweet company that was established in 1898.

The ownership has been passed down through the family generations and joint MDs John and Antony Winnard are the great, great nephews of the company’s founder.

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