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Francis Edwin Showering (10 July 1912 – 5 September 1995), was an English brewer. His family company,
Showerings Babycham () is the trade name of a light (6% ABV), sparkling perry invented by Francis Showering, a brewer in Shepton Mallet in Somerset, England. The name was owned by Accolade Wines until December 2021 when it was bought back into the Shower ...
, invented
Babycham Babycham () is the trade name of a light (6% ABV), sparkling perry invented by Francis Showering, a brewer in Shepton Mallet in Somerset, England. The name was owned by Accolade Wines until December 2021 when it was bought back into the Shower ...
, a light, sparkling
perry Perry, also known as pear cider, is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally the perry pear. It has been common for centuries in England, particularly in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire. It is also mad ...
, launched in 1953 and originally marketed as "genuine champagne perry". In 1957, it became the first alcoholic product to be advertised on UK television.


Early life

Showering was born in
Shepton Mallet Shepton Mallet is a market town and civil parish in the Mendip District of Somerset, England, some south-west of Bath, south of Bristol and east of Wells. It had an estimated population of 10,810 in 2019. Mendip District Council is base ...
in Somerset, England, where his father was an innkeeper and brewer. The family business,
Showerings Babycham () is the trade name of a light (6% ABV), sparkling perry invented by Francis Showering, a brewer in Shepton Mallet in Somerset, England. The name was owned by Accolade Wines until December 2021 when it was bought back into the Shower ...
, brewed
beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from cer ...
and
cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumptio ...
. He was educated at Shepton Mallet grammar school and then studied to become a chemist in Bristol. He married Hilda Foote in 1934. They had no children. He and his three brothers all worked at Showerings; Francis eventually became managing director.


Babycham

In the 1940s, the company developed a process to produce perry—a form of cider made from fermented pear juice—and created a low-alcohol sparking drink that was christened Babycham. The new drink was marketed mainly at young women, and sold in small bottles to be served in a champagne saucer: "the genuine champagne perry sparkling in its own glamorous glass". After disputes with French champagne producers, including a court case in 1978, H P Bulmer Ltd v J Bollinger SA, which held that marketing of a similar sparkling cider was not confusing, the reference to champagne was eventually prohibited by EU rules on
protected designation of origin The protected designation of origin (PDO) is a type of geographical indication of the European Union and the United Kingdom aimed at preserving the designations of origin of food-related products. The designation was created in 1992 and its main ...
. The drink became very popular, with its advertising slogan "I'd love a Babycham" and logo of a small chamois. To serve the burgeoning demand, the company bought pear orchards across the West Midlands, and planted new pear orchards in Somerset. Output in Shepton Mallet reached 108,000 bottles an hour in 1966, and new plants were opened in Ireland and Belgium.


Later career

Showerings became a
public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (lis ...
in 1959, and acquired William Gaymer, Vine Products, Whiteways,
Britvic Britvic plc is a British producer of soft drinks based in Hemel Hempstead, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. It produces soft drinks under its own name, and several other brands. Hi ...
, and
John Harvey & Sons John Harvey & Sons is a brand (trading name) of a wine and sherry blending and merchant business founded by William Perry in Bristol, England in 1796. The business within 60 years of John Harvey joining had blended the first dessert sherry, d ...
. Showerings was itself acquired by
Allied Breweries Allied Breweries was the result of a 1961 merger between Ind Coope (of Burton), Ansells (of Birmingham), and Tetley Walker (of Leeds). In 1978, Allied Breweries merged with the food and catering group J. Lyons and Co to form Allied Lyons. The br ...
in 1968 for £108 million, and Showering was appointed as a director of Allied Breweries after the merger. His nephew Sir Keith Showering was vice-chairman from 1969 and then chairman and chief executive from 1975 to 1982, during which time Allied Breweries acquired Teacher's whisky and became Allied Lyons after the acquisition of the
Lyons Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
food and catering business in 1979. Showering became vice-chairman of Allied Breweries in 1982, after his nephew's sudden death. He failed to buy back Showerings in 1991, and joined with the four sons of Sir Keith Showering to set up Brothers Drinks, with a new drink, Straight 8, a full-strength perry with 8 per cent alcohol.


Later life

He was appointed CBE in 1982.


Death

Showering died in Dorset on 5 September 1995 and was buried in Shepton Mallet. He was survived by his second wife, whom he had married in 1981, a year after the death of his first wife.


References

* Anne Pimlott Baker, ‘Showering, Francis Edwin (1912–1995)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 23 December 2013
*

The Independent, 23 October 1993

The Telegraph, 18 September 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Showering, Francis 1912 births 1995 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English brewers People from Shepton Mallet 20th-century English businesspeople