George Bassett & Co., known simply as Bassett's, was a British

confectionery Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories ...

company and is now used as a brand of

Cadbury Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mar ...

, owned by

Mondelēz International Mondelez International, Inc. ( ), often styled Mondelēz, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational confectionery, food industry, food, holding and drink industry, beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an ...

. The company was founded in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

George Bassett George Bassett (1818–1886) was the founder in 1842 of Bassett's, a confectionery firm in Sheffield.Liquorice Allsorts Liquorice allsorts are assorted liquorice confectionery sold as a mixture. Made of liquorice, sugar, coconut, aniseed jelly, fruit flavourings, and gelatine, they were first produced in Sheffield, England, by Geo. Bassett & Co Ltd. Allsorts ...

, were created by accident in 1899 and in 1926 the mascot of Bassett's,

Bertie Bassett Liquorice allsorts are assorted liquorice confectionery sold as a mixture. Made of liquorice, sugar, coconut, aniseed jelly, fruit flavourings, and gelatine, they were first produced in Sheffield, England, by Geo. Bassett & Co Ltd. Allsorts ...

, was created; Bertie continues to represent the brand today.

Jelly Babies Jelly Babies are a type of soft sugar jelly sweets in the shape of plump babies, sold in a variety of colours. They were first manufactured in Lancashire, England, in the nineteenth century. Their popularity waned before being revived by Basset ...

have been produced by the brand since 1918. In 2016, the brand was joined with

Maynards Maynards was a British confectionery manufacturer best known for manufacturing wine gums. It was acquired by Cadbury in the 1990s, which in turn was acquired by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) in 2010. In 2016, the brand was j ...

to create

Maynards Bassetts Maynards Bassetts is a UK brand of confectionery owned by Mondelez International, introduced in 2016. The brand was created to merge its existing Maynards and Bassett's brands, which the company came to own following its purchase of Cadbury in 20 ...

History

The Sheffield Directory of 1842 records George Bassett as being "wholesale confectioner, lozenge maker and British wine trader". In 1851, Bassett took on an apprentice called Samuel Meggitt Johnson, who later became Bassett's son-in-law. His descendants ran the company until Gordon Johnson retired as chairman in the 1970s. Bassett's was first listed on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

in 1929. They opened up a factory in Broad Street, Sheffield in 1852. The site moved in 1933 to

Owlerton Owlerton () is a suburb of the city of Sheffield, it lies northwest of the city centre near the confluence of the River Don and River Loxley. Owlerton was formerly a small rural village with its origins in the Early Middle Ages; it became par ...

in another district of the city and remains there today. Unclaimed Babies were being produced during the 19th century, especially in the North West of England. In 1918, Bassetts launched their own range of the soft sweets which they called Peace Babies. They were re-launched as

in the 1950s and were allegedly thrown at

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

during concerts as they were a favourite of

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

. The

Liquorice Allsorts Liquorice allsorts are assorted liquorice confectionery sold as a mixture. Made of liquorice, sugar, coconut, aniseed jelly, fruit flavourings, and gelatine, they were first produced in Sheffield, England, by Geo. Bassett & Co Ltd. Allsorts ...

variety was created by accident when Bassett salesman Charlie Thompson dropped the samples of several different products in front of a prospective client. The client was taken by the idea of selling the sweets all mixed up and in return for the success, the company allowed the client to name the new brand. Barratt & Co. Ltd. was acquired in a friendly takeover by Bassett's in 1966. In 1989, the combined firms were acquired by the then-united

Cadbury-Schweppes Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mars ...

company in a deal brokered for £91 million. In 2016, all the products were re-marketed under the Maynards Bassett dual branding.

Products

Confectionery items that use the Bassett's name today include: Maynard Bassetts jelly babies 30 June 2022 (1)

** Fruit Allsorts ** Dessert Allsorts ** Sports Mixture *

** Milky Babies ** Fruity Babies ** Party Babies *

Sherbet Lemon Sherbet is a fizzy, sweet powder, usually eaten by dipping a lollipop or liquorice, using a small spoon, or licking it from a finger. Etymology The word "sherbet" is from Turkish ', which is from Persian , which in turn comes from "sharbat" ...

s * Fruit Bonbons ** Lemon Bonbons *

Pear Drops A pear drop is a British boiled sweet made from sugar and flavourings. The classic pear drop is a combination of half pink and half yellow in a pear-shaped drop about the size of a thumbnail, although they are more commonly found in packets cont ...

Dolly mixture Dolly mixture is a British confection, consisting of a variety of multi-coloured fondant shapes, such as cubes and cylinders with subtle flavourings, and sugar-coated jellies. The origin of the name is uncertain. It has been passed down throu ...

* Sweetshop Favourites * Murray Mints * Mint Creams * Mint Favourites * Traditional

Wine Gums Wine gums (or winegums) are chewy, firm pastille-type sweets similar to gumdrops without the sugar coating, originating from the United Kingdom. All brands have their own recipes containing various sweeteners, flavourings, and colourings. Wine ...

(discontinued) * Traditional Wine Gums (New recipe...) *

Imperials The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 until ...

** Imperials Spearmint * Everton Mints * Animal Mix * Snakes * Sour Squirms * and assorted

toffee Toffee is a confection made by caramelizing sugar or molasses (creating inverted sugar) along with butter, and occasionally flour. The mixture is heated until its temperature reaches the hard crack stage of . While being prepared, toffee is ...

References

Bibliography

External links

{{Mondelez Food and drink companies established in 1842 Cadbury brands Mondelez International brands Confectionery companies of the United Kingdom Defunct food manufacturers of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies based in Sheffield Defunct companies based in Sheffield 1842 establishments in England Yorkshire cuisine