Why We’re Crazy for Peppermint

Peppermint, with its sharp but sweet tang, is one of our favourite herbs. We find it in toothpaste, shampoos and other cosmetics but, mainly in the food we eat and especially in confectionery! After dinner mints, biscuits filled with a delicious mint cream, mint ice cream – the list is endless. Wholesale confectionery suppliers are always looking for new products to satisfy our craving. But what makes this plant so special? Why do we love it so much?

Did You Know That Peppermint is a Hybrid?

Peppermint (or Mentha Piperita to give it its scientific name) is a common plant found in almost every English garden. It is a sturdy, fast growing perennial plant that is well suited to our climate, as it thrives where there’s a lot of rainfall and temperatures don’t get too high.

Mint in its various forms has been around for millennia. As far back as the Roman Empire, the author Pliny describes how mint was used to garnish foods, make sauces and even used as a sort of crown during special celebrations. Peppermint, however, is a relative newcomer to the scene. It was first introduced in London around the end of the 17th century when spearmint was crossed with watermint to produce the hybrid plant we know as peppermint.

Mentha Piperita – Nature’s Way of Awakening Your Taste Buds

The peppermint plant contains generous amounts of menthol and menthol derivatives. The parts of the plant containing the active ingredient (often extracted in the form of peppermint oil) are the leaves and the flowers, which are used in a wide variety of applications including in food, cosmetics and medicines.

Perhaps the most well-known characteristic of peppermint (and the reason we love it so much) is the sharp, cooling sensation we experience when using it. This is caused by its high menthol content, as menthol activates cold sensitive TRPM8 receptors in the skin and mucus tissues giving us that sensation of cold when we eat a chocolate mint, drink mint tea, brush our teeth with peppermint toothpaste or apply peppermint lip balm.

Wholesale Confectionery Suppliers Love Peppermint as Well

Suppliers of confectionery also love peppermint because there are so many different ways to serve it to the public. In fact, peppermint can be used alongside a host of other ingredients to produce fantastic flavour combinations. Manufacturers produce endless varieties of peppermint confectionery – biscuits, chewing gum, chocolate, after dinner mints, minty lollipops – the list just goes on and on.

Suppliers of wholesale confectionery are always looking for new products to attract the peppermint-loving public. Manufacturers, being only too aware of the growing demand for new taste sensations are only too pleased to do their best to develop new combinations that will excite our imaginations and our palates.

If you have a sweet shop or are a purchasing agent for a food store, supermarket, contact your wholesale confectionery supplier to see what new products they have to offer.

Angelina Moufftard works for hf Chocolates, established wholesale confectionery suppliers with decades of experience supplying sweets and high-end chocolates to retailers across the UK. Working with the most dedicated suppliers from France, Spain, Germany, Holland, Belgium, the USA and the UK, hf Chocolates' great tasting and beautifully packaged products add panache to any sweet display.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.