Allen's, earlier A. W. Allen Limited, is an Australian brand of confectionery products produced by
Nestlé. Allen's is the top brand of sugar confectionery in Australia.[1] It is best known for
Minties, a soft chewable
mint-flavoured confectionery, and their varieties of 'Party Mix' lollies.
History
Allen's was founded by Alfred Weaver Allen (1870–1925), a
Melbourne confectioner. Originally employed by
MacRobertson's, he commenced confectionery production in 1891 at his
Fitzroy confectionery shop. By 1909, Allen's was the third largest confectionery business in Melbourne, after those of
MacRobertson and
Abel Hoadley.[2] It launched as a public company in 1922. It moved from an adjacent site to a vast factory built to the design of prominent Melbourne architect
Joseph Plottel in
South Melbourne on the banks of the Yarra River (which had formerly housed Holden's first Australian plant and Kraft Walker Foods), in the 1950s. Its animated neon sign was a local landmark up to its demise in 1987.[3]
Allen's abandoned chocolate production after
World War II, however it became Australia's largest confectionery company.[4] Allen's was purchased by UK-based Rothmans Holdings in 1985.[5][6] Two years later it was sold to Nestlé.[2]
Allen's have been manufacturing confectionery in the town of
Broadford, in Central Victoria, Australia since 1982.[7] The manufacturing facility operates 24 hours a day, 5 days a week and Allen's has become synonymous with the town.
In October 2014, Allen's reduced the size of the 'Killer Python' product in order to reduce its portion size. It shrunk from 47 grams (630kJ) to 24 grams (336kJ). The price of the snake was also adjusted accordingly.[33]
In June 2015, the 'Spearmint Leaves' and 'Green Frogs' product lines were discontinued as they were not selling well, although 'Spearmint Leaves' were reintroduced in 2020. Spokesperson for Allen's parent company
Nestlé, Margaret Stuart, has said that the 'Red Frogs' "outsell the green 10 to one".[12][34]
In June 2023 Allen's announced that production of an Australian favourite, Fantales, was to be discontinued due to declining sales. [35]
1 Currently manufactured by
General Mills in the U.S. and Canada. Produced by
Cereal Partners under the Nestlé brand elsewhere. 2 Brand owned by
General Mills; U.S. and Canadian production rights controlled by Nestlé under license. 3 U.S. production rights owned by
The Hershey Company. 4 U.S. rights and production owned by the
Smarties Candy Company with a different product. 5 U.S. rights and specific trade dress owned by Nestlé; rights elsewhere owned by
Associated British Foods. 6 Produced by Cereal Partners, branded as Nestlé. 7 Produced by Cereal Partners and branded as Nestlé in the U.K. and Ireland. Produced by
Post Foods elsewhere. 8 Philippine production rights owned by
Alaska Milk Corporation. 9 Singaporean, Malaysian and Thai production rights owned by
Fraser and Neave. 10 Used only in Indonesia, Thailand, and Cambodia. 11 Used only in the Philippines. 12 U.S. production rights owned by the
Ferrara Candy Company. 13NA rights and specific trade dress to all packaged coffee and other products under the Starbucks brand owned by Nestlé since 2019. 14 Brand owned by
Mars, sold by Nestlé in Canada. 15 Produced by
Froneri in the U.S. since 2020.