Few treats can be as appropriately and historically associated with modern Australia as the humble bag of Minties.
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From movie theatre snacks to birthday party table fillers - Minties have cemented themselves as a truly iconic lolly since first being produced in 1922.
This December, the mint-flavoured snack turns 100 and if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Chris Leahy has helped produce lollies from the Nestle Allens factory in Broadford, Victoria, for the past 25 years.
"What an achievement," Mr Leahy said of Minties reaching their centenary.
The engineering manager has held several positions over his tenure and said he'd witnessed a great deal of change with automation and production in that time.
"When I started, every every packet of lollies was put into a cardboard box by hand and then those boxes were stacked on pallets by hand," he said.
"All those tasks have all been automated and are done by robots and people aren't having to do all that manual work."
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However, some things, like the recipe, have stayed exactly the same.
Mr Leahy said factory workers remained "professional" and refrained from picking lollies off the factory line.
"But what we do is we have a sensory evaluation panel for every batch of lollies that we make - you can go to that each day," he said.
"Effectively, almost straight off the line."
Happy birthday Minties, here's to the next 100.
