MacRobertson's, officially the MacRobertson's Steam Confectionery Works, was an Australian company that produced chocolates and various other confectionery. The company was founded in 1880 by Sir Macpherson Robertson and takes its name from a combination of his first and last name. The company was based for over 100 years in

Fitzroy, Victoria Fitzroy is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Yarra local government area. Fitzroy recorded a population of 10,431 at the 2021 census. Pla ...

, but later moved to

Ringwood, Victoria Ringwood is an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Maroondah local government area. Ringwood recorded a population of 19,144 at the 2021 census. Ringwood ...

. The company also became known for introducing

chewing gum Chewing gum is a soft, cohesive substance designed to be chewed without being swallowed. Modern chewing gum is composed of gum base, sweeteners, softeners/ plasticizers, flavors, colors, and, typically, a hard or powdered polyol coating. Its t ...

and

cotton candy Cotton candy, also known as fairy floss and candy floss, is a spun sugar confection that resembles cotton. It usually contains small amounts of flavoring or food coloring. It is made by heating and liquefying sugar, and spinning it centrif ...

(known in Australia as "fairy floss") to Australia. 1930 freddo

Macpherson Robertson died in 1945 and in 1967 his heirs sold the company to English confectioner ''

Cadbury Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mar ...

'', which in 1969 merged with ''

Schweppes Australia Schweppes Australia is the non-alcohol business of Asahi Breweries operating in Australia, having arrived in the country in 1850. In 1877, the first factory was built in Sydney. After an international merger with Cadbury in 1969, forming Cadbur ...

'' to become ''

Cadbury Schweppes Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mars ...

Australia''. The newly merged company continued to manufacture many of the former company's products including:

Freddo Freddo (originally Freddy the Frog in the 1970s) is a chocolate bar brand shaped like an anthropomorphic cartoon frog. It was originally manufactured by the now defunct company MacRobertson's, an Australian confectionery company, but is now pr ...

Old Gold Old gold is a dark yellow, which varies from light olive or olive brown to deep or strong yellow, generally on the darker side of this range. The first recorded use of ''old gold'' as a color name in English was in the early 19th century (exact ...

Snack A snack is a small portion of food generally eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home. Traditionally, snacks are ...

, Columbines and Cherry Ripe; which continued to display the company's distinctive logo on its wrapper until 2002. In 2009, Cadbury Schweppes separated from its beverage business and became Cadbury Australia, which continues to operate the former company's factory in Ringwood.

References

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External links

Sir Macpherson Robertson
a
Australian Dictionary of Biography
Australian brands Australian chocolate companies Australian companies established in 1880 Companies based in Melbourne Defunct manufacturing companies of Australia Food and drink companies established in 1880 Retail companies established in 1880 1967 disestablishments in Australia