How Saint Valentine’s Liquorice Company began — and how the Mixed Bag became our signature.
Valentine’s Day, 1994.
I had a liquorice business concept forming, mostly in my head, but I had also taken a few practical steps. I’d secured an exclusive contract to import a brand-new liquorice product to the UK. A small bank loan and all my savings bought me shipping, storage, and a market stall. I had a list of summer shows and events that liked my idea.
What I didn’t have was a name.
On a cold February morning, sitting in my friend Julie’s kitchen, the name arrived. Saint Valentine’s Liquorice Company was born — partly inspired by the date, partly by the passion people have for liquorice. In Norway, where I’d been living, I’d already seen that passion up close.
Liquorice from the Fjords
Four years earlier, I was living and working in Oslo. One of my friends there, Magna, ran a little wheeled cart selling liquorice from a Scandinavian distributor. His stall stood by the fjord at Aker Brygge, surrounded by restaurants, cafés, and bars. I managed one of those restaurants — and offered him storage for his stock overnight.
That liquorice fascinated me. It wasn’t like the liquorice root I’d been chewing since travelling in India years before. These were long, shiny twists — black, red, green, brown, even orange — a rainbow of flavours and colours. I tasted everything, naturally. The Norwegians loved it too, and something about that little cart and its kaleidoscope of liquorice stuck with me.
Why Italian Liquorice
Following the trail from Norway, that fascination led me south to Denmark, where the distributor introduced me to an Italian manufacturer that produces liquorice specifically for the Scandinavian market. Italy, after all, has a centuries-long tradition of liquorice making — particularly in Calabria, where the finest liquorice root grows wild along the coastal plains.
I became the first UK importer for those Italian-made sticks. Each flavour was rich, aromatic, and different from anything in British sweet shops. Nobody in the UK was specialising in liquorice yet, and I realised I had the chance to introduce something completely new.
The Birth of the Mixed Bag
At our first shows, people couldn’t decide which flavour to try — sweet, salty, fruity, soft, chewy. So I grouped one of each and called it The Mixed Bag. Eight flavours, eight sticks, wrapped together.
It was an instant success.
The first “liquorice mixed bag” in Britain, and the first time liquorice had been branded that way.
Over the years, the Mixed Bag became our signature. We expanded the range to 15 flavours at one point and even offered 11 sticks for the price of 10. Wherever we went — Glastonbury, small village fêtes, county shows — customers came looking for the Mixed Bag. It became part of the Saint Valentine’s identity.
A Festival, a Name, and a Little Mud
That first summer of 1994, we took our colourful liquorice to Glastonbury. There wasn’t any space left in the market area, but the trade manager liked the idea so much that he found us a tiny patch between two caterers. The smell of frying onions mixed with sweet liquorice, the crowds pressed close to our little folding table, and by Sunday evening we’d sold every last stick we’d brought — and taken orders for dozens more Mixed Bags.
We set up, opened, and sold our way through the weekend, surrounded by music, mud, and thousands of new friends. People would come back, still muddy from the night before, clutching damp tenners and asking for “another one of those bags with everything in.”
The name stuck — just like the mud.
Over the next three decades, the Saint Valentine’s Liquorice Mixed Bag became a small legend in its own right — a simple idea that continually evolved, always with a sense of colour, fun, and a little love at its heart.
Mixed Bag 3.0 — Still Hand-Cut, Still Made with Love
Thirty-one years later, the Mixed Bag has reached version 3.0.
It now includes liquorice from four different countries — smooth Spanish liquorice for that mellow chew, bold Finnish and Swedish fruit flavours (vegan and bright), and our original Italian twists from 1994. Every stick is still hand-cut and carefully balanced for flavour and texture.
It’s the same spirit, just refined over time: same heart, new balance — a mix that celebrates everything we’ve learned about liquorice, people, and passion.
Why People Still Love It
The Mixed Bag endures because it reflects what we’ve always believed: liquorice lovers are passionate people. They don’t just want a single flavour — they want to explore, compare, and find their favourites.
That’s what keeps it exciting for us, too. The Mixed Bag is a piece of our history, a reminder of those early days, and proof that a good idea — like good liquorice — only gets better with age.
Mixed Bag 3.0 is now available online and at events.
Still hand-cut. Still made with care. Still the one that started it all.
Erling McCracken, Founder
Saint Valentine’s Liquorice Company
November 2025
🔗 Related Links
- About Saint Valentine’s Liquorice Company
- Shop the Mixed Bag 3.0
- Italian Liquorice Twists Five Stick Bag
- Finnish Coconut-Coated Liquorice Sticks
