Huntley & Palmers is a British company of

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 ...

makers originally based in

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...

. Formed by Joseph Huntley in 1822, the company became one of the world's first global

brands A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

(chiefly led by George Palmer who joined in 1841) and ran what was once the world’s largest biscuit factory. The biscuits were sold in elaborately decorated

biscuit tin Biscuit tins are utilitarian or decorative containers used to package and sell biscuits (such as those served during tea) and some confectionery. Invented by Huntley & Palmers in 1831, they are commonly found in households in Great Britain, Irela ...

s. In 1900 the company's products were sold in 172 countries, and their global reach saw their advertising posters feature scenes from around the world. Over the years, the company was also known as "J. Huntley & Son" and "Huntley & Palmer". In 2006, Huntley & Palmers resumed operations and was re-established in Sudbury, Suffolk. Since 1985, the New Zealand firm

Griffin's Foods The Griffin's Foods Company is a New Zealand food company currently headquartered in Auckland and established by John Griffin as a flour and cocoa mill in the city of Nelson in 1864.Cape Adare Cape Adare is a prominent cape of black basalt forming the northern tip of the Adare Peninsula and the north-easternmost extremity of Victoria Land, East Antarctica. Description Marking the north end of Borchgrevink Coast and the west e ...

. The cake is believed to have been part of the rations of Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition in 1910-1913.

History

Beginnings

Huntley & Palmers, Kings Road, Reading (1)

Huntley & Palmers was founded in 1822 by Joseph Huntley as ''J. Huntley & Son''. Initially, the business was a small biscuit baker and confectioner shop at number 119 London Street, Reading, Berkshire. A

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

is displayed outside. Until January 2022 the building was for many years the home to Age UK Berkshire. At this time London Street was the main

stage coach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

route from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

and the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...

. One of the main calling points of the stage coaches was the ''Crown Inn'', opposite Joseph Huntley's shop, and he started selling his biscuits to the travellers on the coaches. Because the biscuits were vulnerable to breakage on the coach journey, he started putting them in metal tins. Out of this innovation grew two businesses: Joseph's biscuit shop that was to become Huntley & Palmers, and Huntley, Boorne, and Stevens, a firm of biscuit tin manufacturers founded by his younger son, also called Joseph.Reading History Trail.
Huntley and Palmers
'', Retrieved 10 October 2005

George Palmer

In 1838 Joseph Huntley was forced by ill-health to retire, handing control of the business to his older son Thomas. In 1841, Thomas took as a business partner George Palmer, a distant cousin and a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

. George Palmer soon became the chief force behind its success, establishing sales agents across the country. The company soon outgrew its original shop and moved to a factory on King’s Road in 1846, near the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

. The factory had an internal railway system with its own

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s and one of these has been preserved near

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

. Thomas Huntley died in 1857, but George Palmer continued to direct the firm successfully aided by his brothers,

William Isaac Palmer William Isaac Palmer (1824–1893) was a member of the Palmer family, proprietors of the Huntley & Palmers biscuit manufacturers of Reading in England. He was the brother of George Palmer, the first of the Palmer family to be involved in the fir ...

and Samuel Palmer, and subsequently by his sons, as heads of the company. They became biscuit makers to the British Royal Family and in 1865 expanded into the European continent, and received

royal warrant A royal warrant is a document issued by a monarch which confers rights or privileges on the recipient, or has the effect of law. Royal warrant may refer to: * Royal warrant of appointment, warrant to tradespeople who supply goods or services to a r ...

s from

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

and Leopold II of Belgium. At their height, they employed over 5,000 people and in 1900 were the world's largest biscuit firm. The origins of the firm's success lay in a number of areas. They provided a wide variety of popular products, producing 400 different varieties by 1903, and mass production enabled them to price their products keenly. One source of flour was Hambleden Mill, a few miles down the Thames. Every week a barge, ''Maid of the Mill'' brought flour upriver from the mill. The Palmers were notable local figures in Reading who generously gave money and land to Reading, including Palmer Park and the town was often known as "biscuit town".

Reading F.C. Reading Football Club ( ) is a professional Association football, football club based in Reading, Berkshire, England. The team play in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is manag ...

football team was also known as the "biscuit men". The company provided free biscuits for first-class rail travellers from Paddington, urging them to look out for the works in Reading.

Exports

Another important part of their success was their ability to send biscuits all over the world, perfectly preserved in locally produced, elaborately decorated, and highly collectible

s. The tins proved to be a powerful marketing tool, and under their easily recognisable image Huntley & Palmers biscuits came to symbolise the commercial power and reach of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

in the same way that

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

did for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In 1900 Huntley & Palmers biscuits were sold in 172 countries. Their

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

posters featured scenes from around the world. The tins found their way as far abroad as the heart of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and the mountains of

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

; the company even provided biscuits to Captain Scott during his 1910 expedition to the

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

they produced biscuits for the war effort and devoted their tin-making resources to making cases for

artillery shell A shell, in a military context, is a projectile whose payload contains an explosive, incendiary, or other chemical filling. Originally it was called a bombshell, but "shell" has come to be unambiguous in a military context. Modern usage ...

s. In 1921, Huntley & Palmers accept the invitation from

Peek Frean Peek Freans is the name of a former biscuit making company based in Bermondsey, London, which is now a global brand of biscuits and related confectionery owned by various food businesses. Owned but not marketed in the UK, Europe and USA by De Be ...

to merge so both firms formed a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

, "Associated Biscuits Manufacturers Ltd." with a capital of 2.5 million. In 1960, W.R. Jacob of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

joined Associated Biscuits. In 1969, following the merger of the Scottish biscuit companies, Crawford's, McVitie's and McFarlane Lang (forming

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 Nove ...

) and in order to respond to that market competition, the three main English biscuit manufacturers Huntley & Palmers, Peek Frean and Jacobs reorganised their biscuit production as "Associated Biscuits Ltd".A history of Peak Frean: Part II
on Let's Look Again, a history of branded Britain - March 3, 2020
/ref> Manufacturing in Reading ceased in 1976. In 1982

Nabisco Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International. Nabisco's ...

acquired Associated Biscuits. Production continued at Huyton until 1983. After the closure of the Peek Frean factory at Bermondsey in 1989, Nabisco sold the Associated Biscuit brands (Huntley and Palmers, Peek Frean, and Jacobs) to Danone. The firm manufactured over 400 different types of biscuits over the years and innovated many new types of biscuits including the

Nice biscuit A Nice biscuit (pronounced , like the name of the French city) is a plain or coconut-flavoured biscuit. It is thin, rectangular in shape, with rounded bumps on the edges, and lightly covered with a scattering of large sugar crystals, often wit ...

Hidden images

In the 21st century it came to light that one freelance artist commissioned to design biscuit tins for Huntley & Palmers (including one based on an original artwork by

Kate Greenaway Catherine Greenaway (17 March 18466 November 1901) was an English Victorian artist and writer, known for her children's book illustrations. She received her education in graphic design and art between 1858 and 1871 from the Finsbury School of ...

) had placed secret images in his designs, such as depictions of copulating dogs, copulating people, and a man with a cannabis joint.

Re-establishment

In 2006, Huntley & Palmers resumed operations from Sudbury, Suffolk. The management team included a former marketing director of Jacobs Bakery, which once owned the company, and a founder of Vibrant, a successful packaging design company. They targeted the specialty and fine food sector. Since 2008, Huntley and Palmers have been owned by the Freeman family, with three generations in the biscuit business. Their aim is to bring the name of Huntley and Palmers back into the mainstream, with several products ranges focusing on different market sectors, and including, once again, biscuit tins.

Gallery

File:Biscuit tins VA 2496.JPG File:Biscuit_tins_VA_2478.JPG File:Biscuit_tins_VA_2480.JPG File:Biscuit tins VA 2466.JPG File:Biscuit tins VA 2486.JPG File:Huntley & Palmers Biscuits tin, pic1.JPG