One of the world's best-known lollies is again being made in Australia as Darrell Lea turns on their production of Life Savers in south-west Sydney.

Key points: Darrell Lea is bringing the production of Life Savers to Sydney's south-west from New Zealand

Darrell Lea is bringing the production of Life Savers to Sydney's south-west from New Zealand The company has hired an extra 21 staff members to work on the production of the lolly

The company has hired an extra 21 staff members to work on the production of the lolly Darrell Lea purchased Life Savers from Nestle in 2018, and itself was purchased in 2012 after going into administration

The sugary treat has been a fixture in every supermarket and service station confectionary shelf for decades, and this week, Australia started producing Life Savers again.

After Darrell Lea purchased the product last year from Nestle, the company relocated its production from New Zealand to Ingleburn in south-west Sydney.

It is part of a deliberate effort from Darrell Lea to acquire brands that it feels need revitalisation, or in this case, life saving.

"We're a business that wants to grow and will grow through organic growth, but also acquisition," Life Savers marketing manager at Darrell Lea, James Byrne said.

"We're in the market to get brands, and Life Savers is a great brand here and around the world.

"We've got experience within this business of turning around brands that haven't been doing well."

Mr Byrne says his company is looking to revitalise the Life Savers brand. ( ABC Illawarra: Justin Huntsdale )

That includes their own when they were placed into voluntary administration in 2012 and their chocolate shops closed across the country.

Since then, the company was purchased and restructured by Quadrant Private Equity and has switched to stocking its products in major supermarkets.

Mr Byrne said it has turned the company's balance sheet around completely and he hopes the acquisition of Life Savers can turn into a similar success story.

From New Zealand to Ingleburn

When Darrell Lea purchased Life Savers last year, representatives from the company went to Nestle in New Zealand and worked out the logistics of moving manufacturing across the Tasman.

Life Savers advertising in mainstream media dates back as far as this one from 1917 in a US newspaper. ( Supplied: US Library of Congress )

The machinery was then pulled apart and sent by ship to Australia, where it has been reassembled, fine-tuned and switched on.

"We mix the powder here with the sugars, flavours and colours and then that powder is then put into a pressing machine where the Life Saver is pressed into shape," Mr Byrne said.

"It then moves onto a packing line where it's rolled onto candy rolls, so there are three parts of manufacturing a Life Saver, then they roll off the line and we ship them to customers in the country."

The company has hired an extra 21 staff members to work on that production line.

"It brings new manufacturing skills into the area and we source all our raw materials locally, so it has an impact on our supply chain as well," Mr Byrne said

A lolly dating back to 1912

Life Savers were first created in the United States in 1912 and were reportedly discovered by Australian servicemen during WWI.

They were first manufactured in Australia in 1925 and the brand was then bought by Nestle.

In the early 2000s, Nestle moved manufacturing of the lolly to New Zealand, which is where it has been produced until this week.

"Life Savers is one of those brands synonymous with Australia, and while we have manufacturing assets in New Zealand, we made a conscious choice to bring manufacturing back to Australia," Mr Byrne said.

"It's something that was important to us and we've been working in the background to innovate with new flavours and formats, so in September we can relaunch the brand with new flavours and advertising campaigns to help Australians become aware again of Life Savers."