delicacy that's 100 years old UNCLE JOE'S - the Wigan-made nut brown mint balls that became so famous the Houghton Weavers recorded a song about them - are 100 years old. William Santus and Co, of The Toffee Works, Dorning Street, is still using the same secret recipe dreamed up by Mrs Santus in her back kitchen in 1898.
She began selling them at her husband's fruit and vegetable stall in Wigan Market Hall.
Now, they are not only popular all over Britain, they're a tourist attraction. Visitors from all over the world snap up tins and learn the story of the mint balls at the Wigan Pier heritage complex.
The company employs 30 people and has an annual turnover of £1 million. And it plans to mark its centenary by breaking into the international market in a big way.
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