A New Zealand family business makes the famous lollies handed out to Air New Zealand passengers. Horners Confectionery began when Dhiru Bhikha bought a small lolly factory in Te Kuiti in 1984. The company later moved to Auckland as it grew. Today, Horners makes about 22 million lollies for Air New Zealand each year.
Dhiru once told his son Raj that he would make the lollies used by Air New Zealand. His chance came after Cadbury Pascall, which had supplied the airline for decades, announced the closure of its New Zealand factory. Air New Zealand wanted its famous passenger lollies to continue being made in New Zealand, so Horners was given the job.
There was one big problem: Cadbury Pascall did not give Horners the original recipe. Dhiru had to work out the flavours and colours by studying the lollies that Air New Zealand still had. He managed to recreate the recipe within a month. There was another problem when the lollies were given a new type of wrapper, but passengers complained, so Horners quickly found a machine that could make the traditional twist wrappers.
The white lolly is the most popular flavour, according to Raj. Horners makes twice as many white lollies as each of its other four flavours. Air New Zealand says passengers can take a whole handful, although Dhiru recommends taking one for yourself and one for each person waiting for you at the airport. The lollies can help passengers equalise pressure in their ears during a flight, but they have also become a much-loved part of flying with Air New Zealand.
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