Tradition and craftsmanship
The production of the raw mass and the further processing of our SALMIX® lozenges is complex and requires a lot of time and know-how. It cannot be compared with the production of industrial liquorice. We have been producing lozenges, with their distinctive taste, on the basis of our unique process for almost 70 years. This is done using machines that have been specially developed for our production. However, essential steps in the production process still require manual work by our specially trained employees.
The unique SALMIX® production process.
The individual production steps below describe the stages in the elaborate and complex manufacturing process:
1. The raw material warehouse
The selected raw materials are carefully checked and then combined together by one of our master mixers in a precisely temperature-controlled storage room in accordance with the original 1949 recipe.
2. The kneader machine
The SALMIX® raw material mixture is filled into the specially developed kneader machine in a fixed sequence and then heated. The subsequent baking and kneading takes a lot of time, but is necessary to achieve the correct consistency of the SALMIX® liquorice raw material. The consistency of the finished mass is checked by an experienced employee and once approved it is cut into individual blocks by hand.
3. The feeder machine
Here the individual blocks of the raw mass are once again compacted between several rollers and then rolled out to the desired lozenge thickness.
4. The salmi cutter
This machine is called the "salmi cutter" and was also specially developed for the SALMIX® lozenges. In this production step, the typical elongated lozenge shape is created, which makes our salmiac pastilles unique on the outside too.
5. The cuddle box
The lozenges are now carefully "cuddled" by hand on a sieve in the so-called cuddle box. This process fixes the shape of the lozenges once again and removes unnecessary liquorice residue. This is where the lozenges get their unique and individual shape. No diamond is the same as any other - and it is exactly this which shows the high-quality workmanship of the production process.
6. The drying room
The small lozenges are stored hot here for more than 2 days and tested for their degree of hardness at defined intervals. The drying room must be adjusted with regard to humidity and heat for each production batch in order to achieve perfect consistency. Once this has been achieved, the lozenges are ready to be polished.
7. The polishing drum
The final refinement stage of the SALMIX® lozenges takes place in the polishing drums, developed in 1949 and made of a special hardwood, and they are unique in function and appearance. Here the "salmix specific" natural ingredients are added and combined with the lozenges during the polishing process. The process takes several hours and involves various polishing steps that must be strictly adhered to.
8. Laboratory examination
After polishing, our SALMIX® products undergo a multi-stage quality test - including colour, appearance, smell and taste. And once these aspects have been quality checked and approved by an independent institute, the respective batches are filled and then sent to our customers.