fisherman's friend fisherman's friend fisherman's friend is a brand of strong menthol lozenges manufactured by the lofthouse company in fleetwood, lancashire, england. the image of the mid-water side trawler cevic which appears on all fisherman's friend products a selection of fisherman's friend lozenges history fisherman's friend was originally developed by pharmacist james lofthouse in 1865 to relieve various respiratory problems suffered by fishermen working in the extreme conditions of the northern deep-sea fishing grounds. though he developed it as an extremely strong liquid remedy containing menthol and eucalyptus oil, lofthouse later made the liquid into small lozenges, which were easier to transport and administer. according to the manufacturer, the fishermen began to refer to the lozenges as "friends", hence the name. the company expanded its reach after the 1963 marriage of doreen and tony lofthouse, a grandson of the founder, following which doreen became a director; it transitioned from direct sales to stocking by retailers and subsequently spread abroad, initially to norway in 1974, and different flavours were added to appeal to regional tastes. the shape of the lozenges was reportedly based on the buttons of a dress worn by mrs lofthouse. british prime minister margaret thatcher is said to have used the product when her throat became strained from public speaking. french president emmanuel macron uses them too: "he finds his energy in les fisherman's, those lozenges which rip your throat out. he keeps them in his pockets and in the car-seats. when speaking publicly, he needs water, some slices of lemon and a small dish of fisherman's. during the presidential campaign, he was reported to have devoured crates of them, delivered to his campaign headquarters." the lozenges are relatively unchanged since their creation. the original paper packets later became foil-lined and packaged in a cardboard carton. lofthouse of fleetwood has won the queen's award to industry for export achievement on three occasions. ingredients original extra strong lozenges contain sugar, liquorice extract, menthol, peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil, dextrin, tragacanth, and capsicum tincture. the sugar-free versions of the lozenges contain sorbitol, aspartame, menthol, vegetable-sourced sucralose, and acesulfame k. often they have anti-caking agents added such as magnesium stearate. each different flavour has unique ingredients. for example, the blackcurrant flavour variant includes elderberry juice extract. availability sealed fisherman's friend pack from france fisherman's friends are available in a variety of flavours. some flavours are sugar-free, for which the bags are striped. containing sugar original extra strong (called eucalyptus in germany) – white pack aniseed – gold pack mint – green pack sugar-free original extra strong (called eucalyptus in germany) – white and blue pack lemon – white and yellow pack blackcurrant – white and dark purple pack mint – white and light green pack apple – white, green and orange pack (only in indonesia) apple and cinnamon – white and mid-green, or white and moss green, or white, green and orange pack salmiak – white and black pack cherry – white and dark red pack mandarin and ginger, or spicy mandarin, or mandarin and grapefruit, or mandarin, or orange spice – white and dark orange pack grapefruit – white and coral pack sweet liquorice – white and brown pack tropical – white and amber pack spearmint – white and teal pack citrus – white and lime green pack honey and lemon – white and beige pack sweet lime – white and yellow to light green pack raspberry – white and dark pink pack mixed berries – white, red and purple pack sage – white and light purple pack (only in germany) salmiak and raspberry – white, dark pink and black pack (only in finland, sweden and norway) chocolate mint chocolate mint flavours: chocolate mint chocolate mint cherry chocolate mint orange chocolate mint salted caramel other flavours of sweets pro fresh from fisherman's friend vanilla mint peppermint strawberry blueberry lemon and lime melon orange notes flavours available in the united states currently only available in norway, germany, thailand, singapore & switzerland