Month: June 2024

In 2023, the number of people following a vegan lifestyle increased by over 1 million in the UK alone. The global number of vegans has been estimated to be as high as 230 million people, but why is veganism on the increase?

As more and more of us decide to look after our lifestyle and wellbeing, many take to plant-based diets to improve their health. Studies have found that, combined with the right vitamins and nutrients, a vegan diet can improve heart and gut health, lower cancer and stroke risk, assist weight loss and improve blood pressure and cholesterol.

Most Muslims will remain sceptical as it’s prescribed in the Quran as fine to eat animals, but it’s down to individual choice and what works well for one person won’t work for another. There’s no issue with people finding a diet that works for their personal requirements and makes them feel good about their diet.

For some, the decision to adopt a vegan lifestyle is not just about personal health, but also about ethical considerations. Whether driven by religious beliefs or personal values, these individuals choose to abstain from animal products, contributing to a larger movement towards ethical living.

The growth in people choosing a plant-free vegan lifestyle has been aided by significant expansion in the range of foods now having plant-based alternatives. Gone are the days of processed, grey meat substitutes with little variation.

A growing number of confectionery companies are releasing vegan sweets, which offer the same great taste and texture without the use of animal products. This is achieved by replacing gelatin, dairy, and honey with plant-based alternatives such as agar-agar, coconut/soy milk, or maple syrup.

At Sweetzone, we are proud to offer a diverse range of vegan sweets, including pencils, lollipops, candy floss, hard candies, and more. By combining our vegan range with our dedication to providing halal sweets, we strive to be as inclusive as possible, ensuring that everyone, regardless of their dietary requirements or lifestyle, can indulge in our delicious treats.

Please visit our Vegan Information page for more information – https://sweetzone.blue2web.co.uk/vegan-information

Have you ever wondered how your favourite jelly sweets are made? Join us for a behind-the-scenes look at the production process of our delicious jelly sweets. From selecting the finest ingredients to the final packaging, we’ll take you through each step of how we create these delightful treats.

Selecting Quality Ingredients:

The journey of our jelly sweets begins with selecting the highest quality ingredients. We use natural fruit juices, premium halal gelatine, and high quality flavours to ensure the best taste and texture. Our commitment to quality starts with sourcing the best raw materials from the best suppliers.

Mixing and Heating:

The ingredients are mixed in precise proportions to create the perfect jelly sweet mixture. This mixture is then heated to the right temperature to dissolve the gelatine and blend the flavours. Temperature control is crucial to achieving the ideal consistency.

Adding Flavours and Colours:

Once the base mixture is ready, flavours and colours are added. We use a variety of fruit extracts and plant-based colourings as well as some nature identical colours to create a vibrant and appealing product. Each flavour batch is carefully crafted to ensure a consistent and delicious taste throughout the production cycle.

Pouring into Moulds:

The flavoured mixture is poured into silicone moulds in various shapes and sizes. These moulds are designed to create the fun and playful shapes that jelly sweets are known for. The filled moulds are then allowed to cool and set before being packaged and shipped to different destinations around the world.

Follow this link for in-depth look into jelly sweet production!! –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmL3JnBvl_Y

 

 

When we think of marshmallows, we are instantly brought to the image of the pink and white fluffy chunks, perfect for roasting over a campfire that we are familiar with today.

However, the history of these sugary treats goes back a lot further than one might expect. An early ancestor of the marshmallow can be traced back to ancient Egypt, as early as 2,000 BC, over 4,000 years ago.

These ancient sweets were originally produced from the mallow plant, native to Europe and Asia across marshlands – hence the name ‘marshmallows’. Ancient Egyptians extracted the sap from the plant and combined it with nuts and honey to create an extra special exclusive treat, mainly reserved for royalty and the Gods.

Fast-forward to the 1800s and confectioners in France introduced a similar procedure to these early marshmallows, bringing us much closer to a modern-day marshmallow. These small sweet shops whipped the sap from mallow plants into moulds, a time-consuming process that was later refined using starch moulds and gelatin rather than mallow sap.

These gelatin marshmallows are the stable form that we are used to today. As the ease and efficiency of production has developed over the last few decades, we are now seeing marshmallows in increasingly large varieties of colours, shapes, and flavours, including some niche gourmet mallows with complex colours and flavours that simply would not have been possible in the past.

Many people across the world enjoy modern marshmallows, particularly around campfires, where they can be roasted and enjoyed as s’mores or as a popular dessert and ice cream topping.

Here at Sweetzone, we have a range of halal marshmallows in a variety of colours, sizes, and shapes, which have proved to be extremely popular sellers, particularly in the Halal community.

Our range includes our retail share bags like Mighty Mallows, Mallow Twists, Mini Mallows and Fruity Mallows. We also have the 4 colour micro mallows, pink and white mini mallows in bulk.

Sweetzone In The Forecourts Sector

Forecourts have come a long way over the last 25 years. Whereas before you would be lucky to get anything more than a sandwich and a drink at a petrol station , todays forecourts offer a great choice of shopping and food on the go options.

Euro Garages Frontier Park site in Blackburn is one of the most best examples and it’s our first site of choice for lunch or a snack when visiting Blackburn.

With a Greggs, Subway, Krispy Creme, Chaiwala, Sbarro (for pizza lovers) and even an Ambala store for savoury treats and sweets. You can even get yourself some Sweetzone sweets while you’re there!

Euro Garages and Asda Express stock Sweetzone in around 240 sites (and growing) and have some great Sweetzone displays as featured below.

Sweets sell great in forecourts and are a good impulse buy for people on long journeys, people on their way to parties or events, or just people in the local vicinity of the forecourt that just enjoy sweets!

Valli Forecourts

Another innovative and very busy forecourt operator is Valli Forecourts.

Valli forecourts have 16 sites currently based predominantly around the Yorkshire area but also stretching down as far as Birmingham. They should have another 4 sites opening soon.

Valli forecourts have a very unique offer and have extremely high footfall in their sites as a result.

If you are a forecourt operator and would like to meet one of our sales team please reach out and drop us an email.