Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls prove a massive hit with Canadians thanks to Wigan ex-pat

Thomas Moore, who was born in Abram, fulfilled a childhood dream by relocating to Canada 15 years ago.

He now works as an ice road trucker in Saskatchewan, serving the mining industry and helping transport goods all over the vast province and beyond.

But wherever he goes, he has some of Wigan's signature confectionery with him to share with Canadians.

Thomas, 58, said: "I'd been looking to live in Canada even as a kid at high school. I love the great outdoors. Canada is the cleanest country on the planet, with wide spaces and the least people.

"I now work as an ice road trucker, serving the mining industry. I love Uncle Joe's Mint Balls and take them with me to share around with Canadian French drivers and mineworkers when they ask for them."

Because of their scarcity, Thomas orders the sweets online directly from the manufacturer's Wigan plant and they are shipped over to him.

He added: "They're a taste of home. I grew up with them and got them off my dad, who was a miner in Wigan and they helped keep the chest clear of coal dust."

Thomas is now married to a Canadian, Saskatchewan-born Tammy, 53, who is also a fan.

She said: "It's a product I'm in love with, there's nothing like it anywhere else in the world.

"I'm a smoker and the mint balls are unique, they're medicinal but they also taste good. We're crazy about them."

The couple were in the UK for a holiday, which included meeting Thomas's first granddaughter. but also dropped in to the Wigan factory where the sweets are made, and where they were shown around by MD John Winnard.

This year marks the 125th anniversary year of Uncle Joe’s, set up by William Santus with the help of his wife Ellen in a small house on Acton Street, Wigan, in 1898.

Since then, their world-famous sweets have been immortalised in countless articles, cartoons and poems – and there has even been a song written about them.

The Toffee Works factory on Dorning Street, where the sweets are still made today, was completed in 1919 at a cost of £2,400.