Like many traditional products, ours had humble beginnings over 120 years ago. It was made in a family kitchen and sold from the corner of a fruit stall on Wigan market. It does, of course, sell well in the North West and throughout the UK through outlets such as Selfridges, Conran, Liberty and HarveyNicholls. More recently, however, with the help of our Chamber of Commerce, we have sought and achieved export sales, so that these now account for a significant part of our production and, like many businesses, these exports help us smooth out the peaks and troughs of the domestic market.

With those retail outlets already named you might be forgiven for thinking that we make a designer label, perhaps some form of lacy undergarment - but you would be wrong! The product and the subject of this Sweet Story is the humble, yet entirely natural 'Uncle Joe's Mint Balls by Wm. Santus and Co Ltd in Wigan.

Although Santus has a turnover of £1m we employ just 30 people producing 300 tons a year - we are a genuine small company. When we decided to seek export markets, therefore, we approached the problem as any small company would. We had no huge budget and no large marketing department. Moreover, we didn't want to risk great effort in unproductive forays abroad, so we sought the advice of specialists at the Wigan Chamber and we took advantage of the experience of others in the Chamber's export club.

As a result of the Chamber's advice and of our own investigations we attended shows for the confectionery trade in the US, Europe and even the UK. Despite attempts to rebrand the UK as 'cool Britannia' - or perhaps because Mint Balls are associated with 'cool' - our traditional product attracted much interest with major distributors in the US, and with buyers from as far afield as Saudi Arabia and India. As a result we now export 10% of production, and the proportion continues to grow to meet demand.

Unlike some products we have not had to alter the taste for overseas markets although we have, of course, adjusted the marketing. We have, for example, used new packaging to increase the shelf life up to 12 months and we will continue to make such alterations to take advantage of new markets wherever we find them.

For any small company investigating export markets is a big task - it can be time consuming and daunting. We are, though, just like any other small business and we found it extremely valuable to use the expertise within our local Chamber - not just the experience of the staff but the export experiences of other Chamber members. With their help we were able to focus on the most effective ways of tackling the most likely markets and, then, of achieving the success we sought. Like our Mint Balls, everyone should try exporting - it can be an enjoyable and rewarding experience. Go ahead, we did, and we taste the success daily!