McVitie's () is a British snack food brand owned 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 ...

. The name derives from the original Scottish biscuit maker, McVitie & Price, Ltd., established in 1830 on Rose Street in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. The company moved to various sites in the city before completing the St Andrews Biscuit Works factory on Robertson Avenue in the

Gorgie Gorgie ( ) is a densely populated area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located in the west of the city and borders Murrayfield, Ardmillan and Dalry. Name The name is thought to be Brythonic in origin. Early forms suggest it derives from ''gor g ...

district in 1888. The company also established one in Glasgow and two large manufacturing plants south of the border, in

Heaton Chapel Heaton Chapel is an area in the northern part of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it borders the Manchester districts of Levenshulme to the north, the Stockport districts of He ...

, Stockport, and Park Royal,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. There are seven McVitie's factories in the UK, with each producing a different types of biscuit; the

Harlesden Harlesden is a district in the London Borough of Brent, North West London. Located north of the Grand Union Canal and Wormwood Scrubs, the Harrow Road flows through the centre of the area which goes eastwards to Central London and west toward ...

site in north-west London manufactures the

chocolate digestive A digestive biscuit, sometimes described as a sweet-meal biscuit, is a semi-sweet biscuit that originated in Scotland. The digestive was first developed in 1839 by two Scottish doctors to aid digestion. The term ''digestive'' is derived from the ...

s. Under United Biscuits McVitie's held a Royal Warrant from Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

. The best-selling biscuit manufacturer in the United Kingdom, McVitie's produces

Hobnobs Hobnobs (sometimes stylized as HobNobs) is the brand name of a commercial biscuit. They are made from rolled oats, are similar to a Flapjack (oat bar), flapjack-digestive biscuit hybrid, and are among the most popular British and Irish biscuits ...

and

Rich tea Rich tea is a type of sweet biscuit; the ingredients generally include wheat flour, sugar, vegetable oil and malt extract. Originally called Tea Biscuits, they were developed in the 17th century in Yorkshire, England for the upper classes as a l ...

(ranked the three favourite biscuits to dunk into tea), and

Jaffa Cakes Jaffa Cakes are a cake introduced by McVitie and Price in the UK in 1927 and named after Jaffa oranges. The most common form of Jaffa cakes are circular, in diameter and have three layers: a Genoise sponge base, a layer of orange flavoured ...

(the best selling cake in the UK). In 2020, sales of McVitie's biscuits in the UK were more than five times the next two competitors.

History

McVitie's Biscuit Factory, Wellington Road North, Stockport - geograph

Memorial to Robert McVitie, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh

Robert McVitie was born in Dumfries in 1809.Made in Scotland, by Carol Foreman He served an apprenticeship with a baker and in 1834 he and his father John McVitie moved to

, where John's brother William already lived. They initially lived and worked at 130 Rose Street, just north of Princes Street in the New Town. In 1835 they moved to the adjacent building at 129 Rose Street. It is called a "provision Shop". The following year it is being run by Robert rather than his father. The father left around 1836 to be a mail guard but his uncle William joined him in 1840. In 1843 he opened a second shop at 14 Charlotte Place, just west of

Charlotte Square 300px, Robert Adam's palace-fronted north side Charlotte Square is a garden square in Edinburgh, Scotland, part of the New Town, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The square is located at the west end of George Street and was intend ...

(later renamed Randolph Place). McVitie's is first described as a "baker and confectioner" rather than a provision shop in 1856 at 5 Charlotte Place. He utilised the basement area below the shop as the bakery. By 1865 the bakery had moved to 47 London Street at the east end of town and he was living nearby in a flat at 76 Broughton Street. Robert McVitie had two biscuit works at the head of

Leith Walk Leith Walk is one of the longest streets in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the main road connecting the centre of the city to Leith. Forming most of the A900 road, it slopes downwards from Picardy Place at the south-western end of the street to th ...

in 1870: 12 Antigua Street and 2 East London Street. McVitie lived nearby in a flat at 76 Broughton Street. Robert retired in 1880 and died in 1884 leaving his eldest son Robert McVitie (1854-1910) to run the business. It was only then that the business abandoned bread and cakes to concentrate on biscuits, largely due to their longer lifespan. In 1887 he employed Alexander Grant from Forres, an experienced biscuit maker, to aid in this. He was employed as foreman of the bakery but left to set up his own bakery in Inverness but this failed and he returned to McVitie's. In 1875 the company had been joined by

Charles Edward Price Charles Edward Price (1857 – 7 July 1934) was a Scottish biscuit manufacturer who served as a politician in later life. He served as Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Edinburgh Central from 1906 to 1918. Price began his career as a sales ...

as a salesman. His success in this role led to a partnership in 1888 to create McVitie & Price. In 1888 they built the huge St Andrews Biscuit Works on Robertson Avenue in the

district of south-west Edinburgh. Price left in 1910 following the death of Robert. Biscuit tins VA 2490

In 1891 the London salesman for the company George Andrews Brown persuaded the company to redesign their

Rich Tea Rich tea is a type of sweet biscuit; the ingredients generally include wheat flour, sugar, vegetable oil and malt extract. Originally called Tea Biscuits, they were developed in the 17th century in Yorkshire, England for the upper classes as a l ...

biscuit to a smaller size to accommodate the London taste. In 1898 McVitie rebranded the company McVities Guest after joining with his brother-in-law Edward Graham Guest. In 1903 they built the renowned McVities Guest Tearoom at 135/136 Princes Street. The original Gorgie factory burned down in 1894, but was rebuilt the same year to a much improved technical standard. It remained operative until 1969 when production ceased and operations were transferred to the English sites which had been established at

, north-west London in 1902 which is the largest biscuit factory in the UK, and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in 1914. Robert McVitie died married but childless in 1910 in

Berkhamsted Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which is based in the neighbouring large new town ...

rather than at his home 12 Greenhill Gardens in south Edinburgh. He is memorialised in Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh. Prior to death he set up the company (retaining the name McVitie's) as a

limited company In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by shares, the lia ...

placing Alexander Grant as managing director and principal share-holder.Made in Scotland, Carol Foreman The firm acquired the Edinburgh bakery of Simon Henderson & Sons in 1922. McVitie & Price merged with another Scottish bakery company, Macfarlane, Lang & Co., Ltd, in 1948 to become United Biscuits Group. McVitie's brand products are now manufactured in five United Kingdom factories: the two former McVitie & Price factories in Harlesden and Manchester, a former Macfarlane, Lang & Co. factory named Victoria Biscuit Works in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, a former

Carr's Carr's is a British biscuit and cracker manufacturer, currently owned by Pladis Global through its subsidiary United Biscuits. The company was founded in 1831 by Jonathan Dodgson Carr and is marketed in the United States by Kellogg's. History ...

factory named The Biscuit Works established 1831 in Carlisle, and the McVitie's Cake Co. factory (formerly Riley's Toffee Works) in Halifax. McVitie's chocolate digestive biscuit

McVitie & Price's first major biscuit was the McVitie's digestive, created in 1892 by a new young employee at the company named Alexander Grant. The biscuit was given its name because it was thought that its high baking soda content served as an aid to food digestion. Grant was later to become managing director of the company. In 1923 he was the main benefactor in establishing the National Library of Scotland giving an endowment of £100,000. Grant donated a further £100,000 in 1928 to assist with the building of the

National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, or significant wo ...

premises on

George IV Bridge George IV Bridge is an elevated street in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is home to a number of the city's important public buildings. History A bridge connecting the Royal Mile to the south was first suggested as early as 1817, but was first p ...

in Edinburgh. In 1924 Ramsay MacDonald, prime minister of Britain’s new Labour Government, admitted that Grant had given him a Daimler car and £30 000 of shares in the McVitie and Price company. Grant had been MacDonald’s childhood friend, and shortly after received a baronetcy (hereditary knighthood) from the prime minister. The affair, regarded by many as corruption by the prime minister, severely shook the government. Rich tea

The McVitie's Chocolate Homewheat Digestive was created in 1925. Over 71 million packets of McVitie's

s are eaten in the United Kingdom each year, equating to 52 biscuits per second.

Hobnob Hobnobs (sometimes stylized as HobNobs) is the brand name of a commercial biscuit. They are made from rolled oats, are similar to a Flapjack (oat bar), flapjack-digestive biscuit hybrid, and are among the most popular British and Irish biscuits ...

s were launched in 1985 and a milk chocolate variant followed in 1987. Launched in 1927,

were ranked the best selling cake or biscuit in the UK in 2012. Some of the products in the McVitie's line were rebranded ''McV'' in 2002, but this was replaced in 2005 with a restyled version of the ''McVitie's'' brand logo. In 2007, United Biscuits

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

the McVitie's brand to Meiji Seika Kaisha Ltd for biscuit production in Japan. In 2009, McVitie's biscuits were voted the most popular biscuits to dunk in

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...

, with McVitie's

and Hobnobs ranked the country's top three favourite biscuits in 2009."Chocolate digestive is nation's favourite dunking biscuit"
''The Daily Telegraph'' (London). 2 May 2009 In June 2014, McVitie's announced their intention to make 157 shop floor roles redundant at their Manchester manufacturing facility. This redundancy announcement was also due to the modernisation agenda of the company and also involves a move from an 8-hour 5-day operation, to a 12-hour 7-day operation. In November 2014, United Biscuits, and hence also McVitie's, became owned by Turkish company Yildiz which in 2016 merged some of its subsidiaries including

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 ...

. In 2020, sales of McVitie's biscuits in the United Kingdom were more than five times their closest two competitors in the biscuit category (

Kit Kat Kit Kat (stylised as KitKat in various countries) is a chocolate-covered wafer bar confection created by Rowntree's of York, United Kingdom, and is now produced globally by Nestlé (which acquired Rowntree's in 1988), except in the United Sta ...

and Cadbury biscuits). In 2022, McVitie's became the main sponsor of ''

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloqui ...

''.

Wedding cakes

Although not their core operation it is noteworthy that McVitie's were commissioned in 1893 to create a wedding cake for the royal wedding between the Duke of York and Princess Mary, who subsequently became King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

and Queen Mary. This cake was over 2 metres high and cost 140 guineas. It was viewed by 14,000 and was wonderful publicity for the company. They received many commissions for royal wedding cakes and christening cakes. In 1947, McVitie & Price made the principal

wedding cake A wedding cake is the traditional cake served at wedding receptions following dinner. In some parts of England, the wedding cake is served at a wedding breakfast; the 'wedding breakfast' does not mean the meal will be held in the morning, but ...

for Princess Elizabeth and

Philip Mountbatten Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...

, which was served at the wedding breakfast. McVitie's were commissioned to make a

chocolate biscuit A chocolate biscuit is a biscuit ( cookie) which is covered in chocolate, or which has been made by replacing some of the flour with cocoa powder. Chocolate biscuits are quite popular in places all over the world, particularly the United Kingd ...

cake as a

groom's cake A groom's cake is a wedding tradition originating in Victorian England, but observed more often in the modern age in the American South. While a wedding cake may often be light in texture or color and decorated in white, the groom's cake can ta ...

for the

Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton took place on Friday, 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London, England. The groom was second in the line of succession to the British throne. The couple had been in a relationship si ...

in 2011.

Products

Biscuits

* Abbey Crunch *All Butter

Shortbread Shortbread or shortie is a traditional Scottish biscuit usually made from one part white sugar, two parts butter, and three to four parts plain wheat flour. Unlike many other biscuits and baked goods, shortbread does not contain any leavening, ...

* BN *Chocolate Digestives *

Club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

Biscuits. *

Cookies A cookie is a baked or cooked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chi ...

, including Boasters. *Deli Choc * Digestives *Digestives Lights *

Fig Roll The fig roll or fig bar is a cookie or biscuit consisting of a rolled cake or pastry filled with fig paste. History Figs are a popular snack food in most of the world. Originating in northern Asia Minor, traded by the sailors and explorers of t ...

*Fruit shortcake *

Ginger Nuts A gingersnap, ginger snap, ginger nut, or ginger biscuit is a biscuit flavored with ginger. Ginger snaps are flavored with powdered ginger and a variety of other spices, most commonly cinnamon, molasses and clove. There are many recipes. Th ...

*Gold Bar *

*Iced Gems *Marie finger biscuit *Minis * Penguin *

*Tasties *

Taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choic ...

* Trio *United (discontinued)"United Bars are the eighties sweets we need to see back on our shelves
" ''The Daily Edge'', 9 February 2016 *V.I.Bs (Very Important Biscuits)

Cakes

Carrot Cake Carrot cake (also known as passion cake) is cake that contains carrots mixed into the batter. Most modern carrot cake recipes have a white cream cheese frosting. Sometimes nuts such as walnuts or pecans are added into the cake batter, as wel ...

Fruit cake Fruitcake (or fruit cake or fruit bread) is a cake made with candied or dried fruit, nuts, and spices, and optionally soaked in spirits. In the United Kingdom, certain rich versions may be iced and decorated. Fruitcakes are typically served ...

*Jamaica Ginger Cake *Lemon Cake * Lyle's Golden Syrup Cake *Mini Rolls *Moments Brownies * Tunis Cake * Waffles

Other snacks

McVities Mini Cheddars (Original and BBQ) with bags

*Breakfast * Cheddars *Cracker Crisps *Digestive Thins *Family Circle *Krackawheats *McVities Digestive Slices *Minis *

Mini 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 b ...

*Nibbles (Digestive and Hobnob varieties) *Victoria Biscuit Selection

References

External links

United Biscuits - page on McVitie's.
{{Yıldız Holding Food and drink companies of Scotland Biscuit brands British brands Scottish brands United Biscuits brands Manufacturing companies based in Edinburgh Food and drink companies established in 1830 1830 establishments in Scotland British Royal Warrant holders Gorgie History of Edinburgh