The sweet taste of the Black Country: Teddy Grays’ secret recipe still going strong after 200 years

Edward Grays of Dudley have been producing and selling a range of hard boiled sweets, all made from a top secret recipe which has been passed down from generation to generation, since the company was founded by John Gray in 1826.

It has seen five generations keep the traditional method of sweet making alive, with the herbal tablet the original and speciality product, fragrant and with a distinctive flavour that many companies have attempted to copy, but have failed to match.

Read more here:  We visit Teddy Grays in Dudley & discover a familiar, special and traditional sweet taste of the Black Country

Using traditional machinery at the production area on North Street in Dudley, the staff work to produce the herbal tablets, as well as other traditional sweets such as pear drops, rock, rhubarb and custard and many other well remembered favourites, all of which have a distinctive taste.

Just walking around the production area, the smell of the sweets is unmistakable, with a warming menthol smell which clears the nose quickly emanating all around, following from production, which runs from around 7am to 11am each day.

The storage area is one filled with a range of treats and sweets, containers full of rhubarb and custard, menthol tablets, pear drops and the rarely made teacakes, a toffee with coconut, with orders set to go out to places such as Cradley, Rowley Regis and even as far as Wrexham in north Wales.

It's also the office of general manager Dave Healy, who has been working at Edward Grays for nearly 40 years, having married into the family through his wife Julie, and who said the place was something very special and spoke about how the herbal tablets became the popular product they are today.

He said: "I think they first developed the flavour for the herbal tablets after starting out with herbal candy because it was something you could tip out of the slab and cut by hand into little squares, then they developed it into what we know today.

"There are copies out there, but people just know the taste and instantly complain when they get someone else's, but we always explain that they're not ours and are a different brand and they go and look for the packets which have the wire fox terrier on there.

"We'll never say what the secret ingredient is and it's not in the ingredients, which are sugar, glucose syrup, malic acid and natural flavouring and it all comes down to the blending as if you blend it in a wrong way, then it'll start to burn and you'll get a paraffin taste."

Mr Healy said the art around the sweet making was important to everyone at Edward Grays, such as using the oils to make the sweets, rather than essences, and using traditional machinery which was harder to replace if things broke.

The brand is one synonymous with Dudley and the Black Country, with Teddy Grays shops found in four locations including Dudley and Bewdley, while the shop website set up during the Covid-19 pandemic has become a popular place for people living abroad to find their old favourites.

Dave Healy said the name carried a lot of weight in the community and spoke about the orders from abroad, saying that some people went to great lengths to get their Grays sweets.

He said: "I'll drive the van and the people just wave when I'm driving past because it has all the livery on it and the kids love it and it can be a bit embarrassing sometimes, but still great.

"We mainly go around the Midlands and deliver outside the Midlands by carrier, but driving around does help as we get calls from people who say they've seen our van and want to know if they can order, which we say they can by going to our website.

"We also get people who order for people outside the UK, like someone who wanted to get a large jar of herbal tablets delivered to Australia, which is about £80 for postage, but people do pay it as they need to fill their craving."

Mr Healy said Edward Grays was seen as something that had been in everyone's lives and the fact it hadn't changed was what made it a part of the Black Country.

He said: "It's like we've never known another Queen, at least I haven't in my lifetime, and there's many others who knew the King before, and that's how it goes with us as people have just grown up with it and every time they go in the shop, it hasn't changed.

"It's just a blast from the past and a tradition that people have when they go in and order an ice-cream, then buy some sweets and we have people in our Bewdley shop who have to get some Teddy Grays sweets, then get fish and chips as that's the thing they've always done.

"I just love this place and every day is a different day and a different challenge as I do the sales, I do the fixing and I do the delivering and it's all about getting out there as we don't really advertise.

"We are also not accepting new orders as the moment as we're at full capacity, but people have been so good and understanding, saying that they are happy to wait and that relationship with the customer is what makes it special for me."