George Bassett & Co., known simply as Bassett's, was a British

confectionery Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories ...

company and is now used as a brand of

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 ...

, owned by Mondelēz International. The company was founded in Sheffield by George Bassett in 1842. Perhaps the company's best-known sweets, the Liquorice Allsorts, were created by accident in 1899 and in 1926 the mascot of Bassett's,

Bertie Bassett Liquorice allsorts are assorted liquorice confectionery sold as a mixture. Made of liquorice, sugar, coconut, aniseed jelly, fruit flavourings, and gelatine, they were first produced in Sheffield, England, by Geo. Bassett & Co Ltd. Allsorts ...

, was created; Bertie continues to represent the brand today. Jelly Babies have been produced by the brand since 1918. In 2016, the brand was joined with

Maynards Maynards was a British confectionery manufacturer best known for manufacturing wine gums. It was acquired by Cadbury in the 1990s, which in turn was acquired by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) in 2010. In 2016, the brand was j ...

to create Maynards Bassetts.

History

The Sheffield Directory of 1842 records George Bassett as being "wholesale confectioner, lozenge maker and British wine trader". In 1851, Bassett took on an apprentice called Samuel Meggitt Johnson, who later became Bassett's son-in-law. His descendants ran the company until Gordon Johnson retired as chairman in the 1970s. Bassett's was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1929. They opened up a factory in Broad Street, Sheffield in 1852. The site moved in 1933 to Owlerton in another district of the city and remains there today. Unclaimed Babies were being produced during the 19th century, especially in the North West of England. In 1918, Bassetts launched their own range of the soft sweets which they called Peace Babies. They were re-launched as Jelly Babies in the 1950s and were allegedly thrown at the Beatles during concerts as they were a favourite of

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

. The Liquorice Allsorts variety was created by accident when Bassett salesman Charlie Thompson dropped the samples of several different products in front of a prospective client. The client was taken by the idea of selling the sweets all mixed up and in return for the success, the company allowed the client to name the new brand. Barratt & Co. Ltd. was acquired in a friendly takeover by Bassett's in 1966. In 1989, the combined firms were acquired by the then-united Cadbury-Schweppes company in a deal brokered for £91 million. In 2016, all the products were re-marketed under the Maynards Bassett dual branding.

Products

Confectionery items that use the Bassett's name today include: Maynard Bassetts jelly babies 30 June 2022 (1)

* Liquorice Allsorts ** Fruit Allsorts ** Dessert Allsorts ** Sports Mixture * Jelly Babies ** Milky Babies ** Fruity Babies ** Party Babies *

Sherbet Lemon Sherbet is a fizzy, sweet powder, usually eaten by dipping a lollipop or liquorice, using a small spoon, or licking it from a finger. Etymology The word "sherbet" is from Turkish ', which is from Persian , which in turn comes from "sharbat" ...

s * Fruit Bonbons ** Lemon Bonbons * Pear Drops * Dolly mixture * Sweetshop Favourites * Murray Mints * Mint Creams * Mint Favourites * Traditional Wine Gums (discontinued) * Traditional Wine Gums (New recipe...) *

Imperials The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 until ...

** Imperials Spearmint * Everton Mints * Animal Mix * Snakes * Sour Squirms * and assorted toffees

References

Bibliography

External links

{{Mondelez Food and drink companies established in 1842 Cadbury brands Mondelez International brands Confectionery companies of the United Kingdom Defunct food manufacturers of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies based in Sheffield Defunct companies based in Sheffield 1842 establishments in England Yorkshire cuisine