HP Foods Limited, formerly based in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, England was best known as the producer of
HP,
Lea & Perrins
Lea & Perrins (L&P) is a United Kingdom-based subsidiary of Kraft Heinz, originating in Worcester, England where it continues to operate. It is best known as the maker of Lea & Perrins brand of Worcestershire sauce, which was first sold in 183 ...
, and
Daddies
Daddies is a brand of ketchup and brown sauce in the United Kingdom.
History
The brown sauce product, known as "Daddies Sauce", was launched in 1904, and the ketchup was launched in 1930. The brand is owned by the H. J. Heinz Company; it was bou ...
sauce brands.
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
br> Heinz buys HP sauce in £470m deal
20 June 2005. Retrieved on 11 March 2008. It was also the UK licensee, from
Heinz
The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six conti ...
, of Chinese food and condiment brand
Amoy Food
Amoy Food Limited is a manufacturer of cooking sauces and condiments in Hong Kong. Its products, which now include foodstuffs such as frozen foods and instant foods for heating in a microwave oven, are sold around the world. It was acquired in 2 ...
.
Formerly the Midlands Vinegar Company
and Smedley HP Foods Limited, it was acquired by Imperial Foods, a division of
Imperial Group
Imperial Brands plc (formerly Imperial Tobacco Group plc), is a British multinational tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, England. It is the world's fourth-largest international cigarette company measured by market share after Philip Mor ...
. Edward Eastwood and his nephew Edwin Samson Moore established the Midland Vinegar Company at
Aston
Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre.
History
Aston wa ...
, Birmingham in 1875.
HP Foods Ltd was retained by Imperial's parent company
Hanson plc
Hanson UK, formerly Hanson Trust plc, is a British-based building materials company, headquartered in Maidenhead. The company has been a subsidiary of the German company HeidelbergCement since August 2007, and was formerly listed on the London ...
even after the demerger of the Imperial Group. It was sold to
Groupe Danone SA in 1988 for £199 million.
It was sold by Danone to
Heinz
The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six conti ...
in June 2005 for £470 million.
However, in October of that year the takeover was referred by the UK's
Office of Fair Trading
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was a non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforced both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the United Kingdom's economic ...
to the
Competition Commission
The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competition regulator under t ...
. After a review the Competition Commission approved the takeover and Heinz started integrating this new company into the business.
In 2007, the
Aston
Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre.
History
Aston wa ...
factory was demolished, and production of HP and Daddies sauce brands was moved to the Netherlands.
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
br>Demolition of HP factory begins
2 July 2007. Retrieved on 11 March 2008. Bottling of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce was returned to Worcester, having been moved in 2005 to the Aston factory. During this time, the sauce continued to be manufactured but not bottled at the Midlands Road site.
See also
*
Brown sauce
Brown sauce is a condiment commonly served with food in the United Kingdom and Ireland, normally dark brown in colour. The taste is either tart or sweet with a peppery taste similar to that of Worcestershire sauce.
Brown sauce is typically eate ...
*
Sweet chili sauce
*
Worcestershire sauce
*
Tomato ketchup
Ketchup or catsup is a table condiment with a sweet and tangy flavor. The unmodified term ("ketchup") now typically refers to tomato ketchup, although early recipes used egg whites, mushroom ketchup, mushrooms, oysters, grapes, mussels, or wal ...
References
External links
* (archived, 8 Mar 2008)
{{Authority control
Food manufacturers of the United Kingdom
Food and drink companies based in Birmingham, West Midlands
Manufacturing companies based in Birmingham, West Midlands
Heinz brands
Food and drink companies established in 1875
British Royal Warrant holders
Condiment companies