Some Canadians – the white-bearded, red-hatted, twinkly-eyed among them – noticed a shortage of candy canes on store shelves last year.

Meet the company hustling to make sure that won't happen again this December.

The only factory making candy canes in Canada these days is in Hamilton, in the middle of a residential neighbourhood in the north of the city.

Behind a heavy red door on a warm fall day, the mint-scented factory housed dozens of workers working to pour, cool, shape, stretch, heave, sort and package hundreds of red-and-white canes.

Everybody wants candy canes at the same time of year. - Samuel Singh, vice president, Karma Candy

A U.S. takeover of the Canadian candy cane brand Allan Candies a couple of years ago left an opening in the market, and had stores scrambling to fill their supply.

The shortage foiled Santas like Vancouver-based Dick Woldring, who was left wondering where to get his usual 7,000 peppermint canes.

Karma Candy applies the same wrapping to its mini candy canes as to its regular size, which company brass say break less and separates them from offshore competition. (Kelly Bennett/CBC)

Only a few companies still make candy canes in North America; the bulk of the rest are made in China.

Now Karma Candy, on Emerald Street North, says its production is up 30 per cent since last year. Canadian dollar values compared to U.S. help increase demand, and so do shifting retailer sensibilities about buying local.

The factory went nut-free a few years ago, and has added some automation, like robots that can "see" to help weed out imperfect or broken canes.

Talk about <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/madeinhamont?src=hash">#madeinhamont</a>. I got to visit a candy cane factory in the middle of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/hamont?src=hash">#hamont</a> and see its cane-sorting "seeing" robot in action. <a href="https://t.co/1mr6IECmVm">pic.twitter.com/1mr6IECmVm</a> —@kellyrbennett

Then Karma packages them for various store house brands, private brands you'd recognize from grocery stores and box retailers.

All with an eye toward delivering more canes on the same strict deadline.

"Everybody wants candy canes at the same time of year," said Samuel Singh, Karma's vice president. "There's only one [time] you can get rid of them, or sell them, pardon me."

'Manufacturing has taken a beating'

During the year the factory fluctuates between 100 and 300 workers.

"It's manufacturing in its true essence," said Joe Castro, the plant's general manager.

Workers at Karma Candy's Hamilton factory prepare a batch of red and white candy for a machine that will spin it into smaller ropes and eventually form it into canes. (Kelly Bennett/CBC)

"As you know, manufacturing has taken a beating over the last decade. And we're one of the companies that worked through this decline in manufacturing, and hopefully we can keep going for many more years."

This factory has been producing candy since the 1960s, but only under the Karma name since 2008. It previously produced candy, canes and chocolate for Cadbury and Allan.

In even older previous lives, the site was home to American Can Company. A nearby property housed Studebaker and wartime ammunition production.

Now, using a traditional recipe, workers along a factory line mix sucrose, glucose and colour into the canes. They turn millions of kilograms of sugar into millions of candy canes every year: The big ones, the miniature ones and even Castro's favourite, the cherry-flavoured.

"It's pretty much like an art, making a candy cane," Castro said.

A factory in Hamilton is the only manufacturer of candy canes in Canada. (Kelly Bennett/CBC)

Castro said he can tell when he sees a cane that's been made elsewhere.

"We look for colours – the vibrancy, the pop. The pop factor's important," he said. "You'll know it's made here in Hamilton, versus an offshore product that looks like it's been painted on."

kelly.bennett@cbc.ca | @kellyrbennett