Jacob's is a

brand name 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 a ...

for several lines 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 ...

s and crackers in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The brand name is owned by the Jacob Fruitfield Food Group, part of

Valeo Foods Valeo Foods is an Irish multinational producer of branded food and beverage products. The company has a portfolio of over 50 international food brands which are sold across 90 countries globally, including Rowse Honey, Odlums, Batchelors, Jacob's ...

, which produces snacks for the Irish market. The brand name is used under licence by

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 N ...

, part of

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 wit ...

History

The originator of the Jacob's brand name was the small biscuit bakery, W. & R. Jacob, founded in 1851 in Bridge Street,

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, by William Beale Jacob and his brother Robert. It later moved to Bishop Street in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, Ireland, with a factory in Peter's Row. Jacob's Bishop Street premises was one of several prominent Dublin buildings occupied by rebels during the Easter Rising of 1916. Jacob's first English factory was opened in 1914 in

Aintree Aintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historically in Lancashire, it lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, north-east of Liverpool city centre, in North West England. It ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, and remains the primary producer of Jacob's products in the UK, including Cream Crackers and Twiglets. In 1922, a separate English company was formed, W. & R. Jacob (L'pool) Ltd. The two branches separated, with the Dublin branch retaining the W. & R. Jacob name while the Liverpool branch was renamed Jacob's Bakery Ltd. In the 1970s, W. & R. Jacob in Dublin merged with Boland's Biscuits to form Irish Biscuits Ltd. and moved to

Tallaght ) , image_skyline = TallaghtDublinD24.jpg , image_caption = Tallaght, Dublin , image_flag = , flag_size = , pushpin_map = Dublin#Ireland , pushpin_label_position = left , ...

, a Dublin suburb. The Liverpool factory joined Associated Biscuits in 1960, which was purchased by

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 ...

in 1982. In 1990, the two companies once again came under common ownership and became Jacob's Biscuit Group when they were acquired by the French company

Groupe Danone A group is a military unit or a military formation that is most often associated with military aviation. Air and aviation groups The terms group and wing differ significantly from one country to another, as well as between different branches ...

. In July 2004, Groupe Danone and United Biscuits announced that they had made an agreement for the latter to acquire Jacob's Biscuit Group. However, only days later, Groupe Danone, United Biscuits, and Fruitfield Foods announced that Jacob's Biscuit Group would be split, with United Biscuits acquiring only the UK portion of the Group and Fruitfield Foods acquiring the

portion. Fruitfield Foods was subsequently renamed the Jacob Fruitfield Food Group and is now part of the Valeo Food Group. Valeo Foods was established in September 2010 through the merger of Batchelors and Origin Foods. Since their acquisitions, United Biscuits and Jacob Fruitfield Food Group have been in a legal dispute over the use of the Jacob's brand name. With the acquisition of Groupe Danone's biscuit division by

Kraft Foods The second incarnation of Kraft Foods is an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. in 2012 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz in 2015. A merger with Heinz, arra ...

in 2007, the production and sales of Jacob's biscuits in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

are done through Mondelez Malaysia. As of 2015, the Aintree factory produced over 55,000 tonnes of products each year, and as of 2022 4,000 tonnes of crackers are produced annually at the factory. In 2015, it received a £10 million investment from United Biscuits to further boost output.

Industrial relations

The activist and

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

organiser Rosie Hackett worked for some years as a messenger for Jacob's. At that time the working conditions in the factory were poor. On 22 August 1911 Hackett helped organise the withdrawal of women's labour in Jacob's factory to support their male colleagues who were already on strike. With the women's help, the men secured better working conditions and a pay rise. Two weeks later, at the age of eighteen, Hackett co-founded the Irish Women Worker's Union (IWWU) with Delia Larkin. During the

1913 Lockout The Dublin lock-out was a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers that took place in Ireland's capital and largest city, Dublin. The dispute, lasting from 26 August 1913 to 18 January 1914, is often vie ...

Hackett helped mobilise the Jacob's workers to come out in solidarity with other workers, they in turn were locked out by their own employers. In 1914 her Jacob's employers sacked her over her role in the Lockout. In 2009, after 156 years of making biscuits in Ireland, Jacob Fruitfield shut its Tallaght plant. 220 jobs were lost while the company retained around 100 staff in a variety of roles. In November 2022, workers at the Aintree factory went on strike after pay negotiations with management since September of that year failed to reach an agreement, and the company temporarily shifted production to Portugal. Staff at the factory are supported in the ongoing strike by the GMB union.

Products

Toppable crackers

* Cream Crackers * Biscuits For Cheese *Savoury Favourites * Flatbreads ** Salt & Pepper ** Mixed Seeds * Crispbreads ** Chive ** Mixed Seed ** Mixed Grain * Ciabatta ** Sundried Tomato & Basil ** Original * Krackawheat * Choice Grain * Sourdough * Butter Puffs * Cornish Wafers * High Fibre

Snackable crackers

* Savours ** Salt and Pepper ** Sour Cream & Chive ** Cheese ** Sweet Chilli *

Cheddars Cheddars are a brand of baked Cheddar cheese-flavoured British-style savoury biscuit. They were originally manufactured and sold by Crawfords. Until 2014, Cheddars were marketed under the McVitie's brand, but are now marketed under the Jacob's br ...

** Pickle ** Cheese **Smoky BBQ

Mini Cheddars

* Mini Cheddars Original 6 Pack * Mini Cheddars Red Leicester 6 Pack * Mini Cheddars Smoky BBQ 6 Pack * Mini Cheddars Nacho Cheese & Jalapeño * Mini Cheddars Chipotle Chicken Wings * Mini Cheddars Lime & Chilli *Mini Cheddars Strathdon Blue Cheese *Mini Cheddars Dragon's Breath Chilli Cheddar *Mini Cheddars Ploughman's Cheshire Cheese

Mini Cheddars Sticks

* Rich & Tangy Cheddar * Grilled Cheddar & Sizzling Steak

Cracker Crisps

* Salt & Vinegar * Sour Cream & Chive * Sour Cream & Chive Caddies

Crinklys

* Variety Pack (6 Pack including 2 × Cheese & Onion, 2 × Chilli Beef and 2 × Salt & Vinegar) *Cheese & Onion 6 Pack

Twiglets

* Twiglets Multipack * Twiglets Caddies

Cheeselets

* Cheeselets Caddies * Cheeselets 125g

References

External links

*
Official website
(United Kingdom) {{Huntley & Palmers United Biscuits brands Brand name snack foods