Liquorice Brands
Saint Valentine's has been sourcing exceptional liquorice since 1994. This is our complete brand guide — the stories, the makers, and the products behind everything we sell.
Amarelli
In 1731, Italian Giorgio Amarelli discovered a way to process the juice from the liquorice root and make sweets — Liquirizia italiana was born. Ever since, the family firm has been producing high quality liquorice with the world's best liquorice root, found in Calabria. A firm favourite with Nigella Lawson; the pure liquorice pellets (Spezzatina / Spezzata) feature in multiple recipes including the famous Basque Burnt Cheesecake.
Bagsværd Lakrids
Founded in 2015, Bagsværd Lakrids quickly gained a reputation for the quality of the rich handmade liquorice caramels they produce and are now widely recognised as the world's finest. Gold winners at the Danish Liquorice Taste Award in 2020 (previous winners include Lakrids by Bülow). Bronze in 2019, Silver in 2018. All products contain a minimum of 5% raw liquorice.
Barratt
Barratt is not merely a brand — it’s a British institution, responsible for more sugar-dusted memories than the average corner shop. From party bags to tuck shops, Barratt’s confectionery mastery has earned its place in every nostalgic nook of the nation.
Bubs
In 1992, the Lindstrom family — Bernt, Ulrik, Birgitta and Stefan — mortgaged their home in Huskvarna, Sweden to start making confectionery. The name Bubs comes from their initials. The family have been owners ever since. All sugar sourced by Bubs is Fairtrade certified, and all products are vegan and halal certified, gelatine free, and made without animal-derived ingredients.
Halva
Halva Ltd is a Finnish family-owned company, established in 1931 by Greek brothers Jean and Michael Karavokyros. Originally specialising in the Greek national speciality product halva — popular in Finland — the company started producing liquorice in the 1950s and has been a fixture of Finnish confectionery ever since.
Joris
Founded in Belgium almost 100 years ago by confectioner Joris Van den Driessche. One of the few businesses that still uses real acacia gum as a basic ingredient — a great binding agent, expensive, not sticky, easily dissolving in the mouth and lower in calories than starch alternatives. Hard gums are washed in a steam bath after air drying for a week, giving a beautiful shine without animal-derived washes. Joris Sweets is the only confectioner in Europe still using this traditional technique.
Katja / Katjes
Katjes is a German company with bases in both its home country (Katjes) and the Netherlands (Katja). Katja started in 1910 using a Sicilian liquorice recipe. The family business has become one of the three largest companies in the German confectionery market. Katja was the first candy brand to use 100% natural dyes in all products and the inventor of yoghurt-based gummy sweets. They now also use only natural flavours and preservatives and are gelatine free. In addition, Katja is the manufacturer of Percy Pigs for Marks & Spencer.
Kraepelian & Holm
Kraepelian & Holm are a traditional Dutch liquorice brand, now part of CCI (Continental Candy Industries), who specialise in wholesale loose weight sweets. Whilst the name may not be familiar to most, this brand is one of the largest suppliers of quality Dutch liquorice to UK sweet shops — the real deal behind many of the authentic Dutch drop products found in specialist stores.
Maku Laku
Maku Laku has been producing liquorice (Lakritsi) since 1994. Based in Porvoo, Finland, they operate from a factory partly powered by geothermal energy. Known throughout Northern Europe for bright and colourful fondant liquorice sweets in a range of fruity flavours. We were the first stockist in the UK in the early 2000s and have sold our stubbies range ever since.
Meenk
Named after Dr JB Meenk who created various medicinal recipes sold under the MEENK brand since 1900. Around 1920, the factory expanded into manufacturing confectionery. Due to a shortage of chemical raw materials during World War II, they decided to use only natural and plant-based ingredients — the beginning of the liquorice they make today. MEENK liquorice is manufactured in the old Dutch town of Winschoten using the best plant-based ingredients and traditional techniques.
Menozzi De Rosa
In the town of Atri in the Abruzzo region of Italy, Dominican friars were extracting juice from wild liquorice roots as far back as the Middle Ages — long before anyone thought to call it a sweet. Industrial production began in 1836 under the De Rosa name, and it has never stopped since. The Menozzi family became owners of the brand in 1950 and today the third generation runs the business, carrying the same passion for liquorice that has defined this corner of Abruzzo for nearly two centuries.
Nature Med
The Zagarese family began processing Calabrian liquorice root in 1886, winning gold medals in Antwerp and Nice and the Grand Prix at the Paris International Exhibition in 1900. After the industry’s near-collapse following WW2, the Massarotto family acquired the Zagarese plant in 1996 and founded Nature Med. Today Nature Med is the leading producer of organic PDO Calabrian liquorice — a protected designation that traces every root back to the Calabrian fields where Glycyrrhiza has grown wild since the Middle Ages.
Saint Valentine’s Own
Our own hand-cut and repackaged lines — products we select, prepare and bag ourselves at Saint Valentine’s. Made with the same care and attention we have applied to everything since 1994.
Taverners
In 1904, William Henry Tavener turned his passion for pickles and sauces into an obsession for boiled sweets — and that obsession never left. Across more than a century the Taverners brand has become synonymous in the UK and internationally with authentic, traditional sweets: all made in the UK, all using only natural colours and flavours.
