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 an ...

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 the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

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 continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The brand name is owned by the

Jacob Fruitfield Food Group The Jacob Fruitfield Food Group is a company that once produced food products in Ireland, but is now mainly a brand for imported foods targeted at the Irish market. It was formed by Fruitfield Foods' acquisition of the Republic of Ireland portion ...

, 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 Group, Odlums, Batch ...

, 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 Nove ...

, 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 with its ...

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 Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, 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 The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

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 i ...

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 ...

, and remains the primary producer of Jacob's products in the UK, including

Cream Crackers Cream cracker is a flat, usually square, savoury biscuit. The name "cream crackers" refers to the method in which the mixture is creamed during manufacture. The cream cracker is traditionally prepared using fermented dough. They are made from ...

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's ...

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 Mondelez International, Inc. ( ), often styled Mondelēz, is an American multinational confectionery, food, holding and beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual revenue of about $26 billion and operates in ...

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 ( ...

organiser

Rosie Hackett Rosanna "Rosie" Hackett (25 July 1893 – 4 May 1976) was an Irish insurgent and trade union leader. She was a founder-member of the Irish Women Workers' Union, and supported strikers during the 1913 Dublin Lockout. She later became a member of ...

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 Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became common during the I ...

. 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 Delia Larkin (27 February 1878 – 26 October 1949) was a trade union organiser, journalist and actress, born to Irish parents in Liverpool, England. She was influenced by the activities of her brother, James Larkin, to move to Ireland, and w ...

. During the 1913 Lockout 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

* Biscuits For Cheese *Savoury Favourites * Flatbreads ** Salt & Pepper ** Mixed Seeds *

Crispbread Crispbread ( sv, knäckebröd (lit. crack bread), ''hårt bröd'' (hard bread), ''hårdbröd'', ''spisbröd'' (stove bread), ''knäcke'', da, knækbrød, no, knekkebrød, fi, näkkileipä or näkkäri, et, näkileib, is, hrökkbrauð, fo, k ...

s ** 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 ** 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