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Carr's is a British
biscuit A biscuit is a flour-based baked and shaped food product. In most countries biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be s ...
and
cracker Cracker, crackers or The Crackers may refer to: Animals * ''Hamadryas'' (butterfly), or crackers, a genus of brush-footed butterflies * '' Sparodon'', a monotypic genus whose species is sometimes known as "Cracker" Arts and entertainment Films ...
manufacturer, currently owned by Pladis Global through its subsidiary
United Biscuits United Biscuits (UB) is a British multinational food manufacturer, makers of McVitie's biscuits, Jacob's Cream Crackers, and Twiglets. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In ...
. The company was founded in 1831 by Jonathan Dodgson Carr and is marketed in the United States by
Kellogg's The Kellogg Company, doing business as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Kellogg's produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toa ...
.


History

In 1831, Carr formed a small bakery and biscuit factory in the
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...
city of
Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...
in
Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic counties of England, historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th c ...
; he received a royal warrant in 1841. Within 15 years of being founded, it had become Britain's largest baking business. Carr's business was both a mill and a bakery, an early example of
vertical integration In microeconomics, management and international political economy, vertical integration is a term that describes the arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is integrated and owned by that company. Usually each member of the suppl ...
, and produced bread by night and biscuits by day. The biscuits were loosely based on dry biscuits used on long voyages by sailors. They could be kept crisp and fresh in tins, and despite their fragility could easily be transported to other parts of the country by canal and railway. Jonathan Carr protested against the
Corn Laws The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. They wer ...
, which placed steep tariffs on imported wheat to keep the price of British wheat artificially high. This meant bread was expensive even in times of famine. Carr died in 1884, but by 1885, the company was making 128 varieties of biscuit and employing 1000 workers. In 1894 the company was registered as Carr and Co. Ltd. but reverted to being a private company in 1908. Carrs Flour Mills Limited was incorporated after acquiring the flour-milling assets. Jonathan's four sons were less skilled at managing the business, but biscuit production remained in the family until 1931. It became part of Cavenham Foods until 1971, when it came into the ownership of
McVitie's McVitie's () is a British snack food brand owned by United Biscuits. The name derives from the original Scottish biscuit maker, McVitie & Price, Ltd., established in 1830 on Rose Street in Edinburgh, Scotland. The company moved to various sites ...
, part of the
United Biscuits United Biscuits (UB) is a British multinational food manufacturer, makers of McVitie's biscuits, Jacob's Cream Crackers, and Twiglets. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In ...
group. United Biscuits was sold by its private equity owners to the Turkish-based multinational
Yıldız Holding Yıldız Holding is a Turkish conglomerate that is best known for manufacturing food products. The company also produces other consumer goods and has its own retail, private equity and real estate operations. Yıldız Holding is among the large ...
in 2014; in 2016 all UB brands including Carr's were combined with Yildiz's other snack brands to form
pladis Pladis Global (styled as pladis) is a British confectionery and snack foods company encompassing United Biscuits, Ülker, Godiva Chocolatier and DeMet’s Candy Company. It was formed in January 2016 as a subsidiary of Yıldız Holding with its ...
. Among members of the Carr family who worked for the business was former
Commando Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...
Capt. Richard Carr MBE. He was decorated for repeated escape attempts from Italian and German
prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. ...
s in the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
.


Business

Since 1972 the Carr's biscuit factory has been part of
United Biscuits United Biscuits (UB) is a British multinational food manufacturer, makers of McVitie's biscuits, Jacob's Cream Crackers, and Twiglets. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In ...
, and the Carr's branded products are marketed in the US by
Kellogg's The Kellogg Company, doing business as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Kellogg's produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toa ...
. The factory today is known officially as McVitie's but still known locally as Carr's. Carr's Flour Mills and the later established agricultural supplies and feeds businesses became Carr's Milling Industries plc, which is still based in Carlisle and now known as Carr's Group PLC. Its products have since the 1990s appeared in UK supermarkets through the Carr's Breadmaker flour range. Carr's Group also own companies involved in light engineering. In 2016 Carr's Group sold the flour-milling division to Whitworths Holdings Ltd. In March 2012, it was announced that Carr's Table Water Biscuits had lost its royal warrant due to 'changing tastes' in the Royal Households. Carr's promptly licensed the coat of arms of the
City of Carlisle The City of Carlisle ( , ) is a local government district of Cumbria, England, with the status of a city and non-metropolitan district. It is named after its largest settlement, Carlisle, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns ...
to replace the coat of royal arms on their packaging.


Flooding

In 2005 the Caldewgate factory in Carlisle lost two months' production due to flooding. In 2016 the local newspaper '' News and Star'' stated that the factory had reopened with a £1 million government grant. However, that same month United Biscuits announced that the factory in Caldewgate, Carlisle, had experienced five feet (over 150 cm) of floodwater on 6 December, which damaged the brick ovens and would result in product shortages on retail shelves.Carr's water biscuit shortage looms after factory hit by UK floods
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
, 22 January 2016
The Guardian, 21 Jan 2016, Too wet for water biscuits as Carr's pauses production.
/ref> After closure of the works for a month to repair and clear flood damage, production and distribution gradually resumed in spring 2016.


See also

*
List of crackers This is a list of crackers. A cracker is a baked good typically made from a grain-and-flour dough and usually manufactured in large quantities. Crackers (roughly equivalent to savory biscuits in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man) are usua ...
*
List of royal warrant holders of the British royal family This is a list of present and past royal warrant of appointment holders of the British Royal Family. British royal warrants are currently granted by King Charles III to companies or tradespeople who supply goods and services. The warrant enab ...


References


External links

*
Carr's Milling Industries plc corporate site
{{Kellogg's British brands Kellogg's brands Brand name crackers United Biscuits brands Companies based in Carlisle, Cumbria 1831 establishments in England