The End of an Era for Lagoon Confectionery

It's the end of an era for the family business who invented the iconic Australian lolly, the Sherbet Bomb. Lagoon Confectionery, a Melbourne institution, are officially closing up production as they sell the 95 year old business.

Tina Finlayson is the third generation of the family business, who remembers "wrapping the sherbet bombs by hand" with her grandfather around the table. "It's bittersweet, for sure," she says. "This factory has been in our family for generations, and it's where I grew up. But the time has come to move on."

Bob’s parents, who met at the Allen’s lollies factory where they both worked, started their own business in 1929 when they were laid off during the Depression. 

The Sherbet Bomb was invented because they wanted to make a "fizzy lolly", Bob said.

“They had a shed at the back of their house and built up the business from there,” he added.

“‘Jobbers’ (wholesalers) would come round in their vans and pick up the confectionery to sell to the shops and milk bars.” 

As a teenager, Bob cut his teeth in the trade doing a bit of everything: cooking confectionery syrups and forming and shaping the lollies. 

“There were about five of us, as well as half a dozen girls who wrapped the lollies; every lolly had to be wrapped by hand,” he said. 

For decades, the Sherbet Bomb was a staple in corner stores and milk bars across the country.

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