Kendal Mint Cake confectioners based in Kendal, supposedly left the boiled solution for glacier mints overnight and it turned cloudy and solidified. The 'mint cake' was then discovered in the morning. Wiper began producing mint cake, with several other confectioneries following suit. After Joseph Wiper emigrated to Canada in 1912 his great-nephew, Robert Wiper, took over the family business. Robert Wiper marketed Kendal mint cake as an energy snack used on famous expeditions, including the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition led by Sir Ernest Shackleton, which largely led to its rise in international popularity amongst mountaineers and hikers. Romney's was founded in 1918, and used
Kendal for the Remembrance poppies for The Royal British Legion), Mardix (switchgear), Lakeland and Kendal Nutricare, who have a facility making baby milk in the north of the town. Tourism is now one of the main employers, but there is also a significant IT and design sector in the town, enabled by increased broadband availability. On 26 February 2003 Kendal was granted Fairtrade Town status. Kendal railway station is situated on the Windermere Branch Line and gives connections to Windermere railway station to the north, and Oxenholme Lake District railway station (on the West Coast Main Line) and Lancaster railway station