The Ryvita Company was established in 1925 by John Edwin Garratt, with a bakery set up in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
two years later, producing one of the first packaged goods in the bakery field. After the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
,
Poole on the South Coast of England was selected as a desirable site for production due to its nearby port.
Ryvita
Ryvita is a rye-based crispbread originally manufactured by the Ryvita Company. The company was founded in Birmingham, England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and S ...
is a
rye-based
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 ...
manufactured by the Ryvita Company.
In 1949,
Garfield Weston
Willard Garfield Weston (26 February 189822 October 1978) was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist who was a member of the prominent Weston family. He led George Weston Limited and its various subsidiaries and associated companies, includin ...
bought the Ryvita Company and began a close personal involvement with the parent company,
Associated British Foods (ABF).
A new mill was opened by
Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein in 1968. The original bakery expanded in 1971 and again in 1974, making it the largest single building span in Europe at the time.
Associated British Foods merged the Ryvita Company with
Jordans in 2009. It is now part of The Jordans & Ryvita Company Limited, a subsidiary of ABF.
The Jordans & Ryvita Company Limited holds a
royal warrant granted by
Queen Elizabeth II as manufacturers of crispbreads.
See also
*
List of bakeries
This is a list of notable bakeries. A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cakes, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Food and drink companies of the United Kingdom
Bakeries of the United Kingdom
Food and drink companies established in 1925
Retail companies established in 1925