Our story begins in 1931 with Arthur Thijs. At the time, Arthur worked in a small confectionery factory, where just about everything was made: from sour sticks to liqueur chocolates. Arthur had a great urge to experiment and wanted to make chocolate Easter eggs. However, his boss was not keen on the idea, so Arthur decided to go it alone. He started making Easter eggs at home in his basement as a side job, but this soon grew into a full-fledged business.
Easter eggs and Saint Nicholas figures were only needed at certain times of the year, so the rest of the range was supplemented with all kinds of other products: nougat, candy canes, mint balls... just about everything was made. Gradually, Arthur specialised in making lollipops. When new and innovative machines came onto the market that automated a large part of the production of chocolate figures, he switched completely to lollipops.
When Aurelien Thijs joined the business, the range was further refined. Our gummies were added alongside the other products, and the company expanded rapidly. Whereas Arthur initially focused mainly on the local market, selling only in Sint-Niklaas and the surrounding municipalities, he soon began to look further afield. Sales spread like wildfire, even internationally: our lollipops were sold as far away as Finland. The range was gradually refined until it focused on the two main categories that we still have today: gummies and lollipops.
Until then, production had been located right in the centre of Sint-Niklaas, on a narrow one-way street – where it all began for Arthur. But a city is not ideal for a candy factory. Deliveries of sugar or the collection of finished goods often caused complete blockages of the street. When Joris joined the business, it was therefore decided to look for suitable commercial premises outside the city centre. In the 1990s, we moved permanently to the Industriepark Noord, still in Sint-Niklaas, where we are still based today.
Joris made his mark by focusing even more on innovation and product development. With our extensive know-how, we make sweets that are fully tailored to the customer, with unique colour and flavour combinations, or by adding extra ingredients.
