Rowntree Mackintosh Confectionery was a British company formed by the merger of

Rowntree's Rowntree's is a British confectionery brand and former business based in York, England. Rowntree developed the Kit Kat (introduced in 1935), Aero (introduced in 1935), Fruit Pastilles (introduced in 1881), Smarties (introduced in 1937) brands, ...

and John Mackintosh Co. The company was famous for making chocolate brands, such as

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 Stat ...

Aero Aero is a Greek prefix relating to flight and air. In British English, it is used as an adjective related to flight (e.g., as a shortened substitute for aeroplane). Aero, Ærø, or Aeros may refer to: Aeronautics Airlines and companies * Aero (P ...

and Quality Street. It was purchased by

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...

in 1988, with products rebranded under its own brand. Rowntree Mackintosh Confectionery owned Mackintosh's former Halifax headquarters and factory. The factory is still in use, located next to Halifax railway station, for production of Quality Street and other confections. The former Rowntree's factory and headquarters were in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. Nestlé still operates in York with one of the world's largest confectionery factories and a global research centre for confectionery base.

History

Background

In 1862,

was founded at Castlegate, in

Henry Isaac Rowntree Henry Isaac Rowntree (1838–1883) was the founder of Rowntree's, one of the United Kingdom's largest confectionery businesses. Career Having served his apprenticeship in his father's shop at The Pavement in York, and following his father's de ...

, as the company manager bought out the

Tuke family The Tuke family of York were a family of Quaker innovators involved in establishing: * Rowntree's Cocoa Works * The Retreat Mental Hospital *three Quaker schools - Ackworth, Bootham, and The Mount They included four generations. The main Tukes ...

.History of Nestlé Rowntree
/ref> In 1864 Rowntree acquired an old iron foundry at Tanners Moat for £1,000, and moved production there. In 1869 the factory was staffed by 12 men. By 1869 Rowntree was in financial difficulties and his brother, Joseph Rowntree, joined him in full partnership, and H. I. Rowntree & Co was formally established. Rowntree had struggled to make a milk chocolate product of comparable quality or value to Cadbury's Dairy Milk. In 1927, the company began to market its fruit gums, and its pastilles from 1928, in the now familiar tube packaging. Rowntree entered the continental Europe market in the 1960s, establishing production facilities in Hamburg, Dijon, Elst and

Noisiel Noisiel () is a commune in the French department of Seine-et-Marne, administrative region of Île-de-France. It is located in the eastern suburbs of Paris, from the center of Paris. The commune of Noisiel is part of the Val Maubuée sector, o ...

After Eights After Eight Mint Chocolate Thins, often referred to as simply "After Eights", are a brand of mint chocolate covered sugar confectionery. They were created by Rowntree Company Limited in the UK in 1962 and have been manufactured by Nestlé since ...

were launched in 1962. In 1969, the Rowntree board rejected a £37 million takeover bid from

General Foods General Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the United States by Charles William Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895. The company changed its name to "General Foods" in 1929, after several corporate ...

. That same year, Rowntree entered into a long-term agreement with Hershey whereby Hershey would produce Rowntree products under license in the US. Rowntree merged with John Mackintosh and Co in 1969, to become Rowntree Mackintosh. Mackintosh produced

Rolo Rolo (pronounced /ˈrəʊləʊ/), referring to the roll-styled chocolates, is a brand of truncated cone-shaped or conical frustum-shaped chocolates with a caramel inside. First manufactured in Norwich, Norfolk in the United Kingdom by Mackintos ...

, Munchies,

Caramac Caramac is the brand name for a caramel-based confectionery that was created by Mackintosh's, and is now manufactured by Nestlé. It was first introduced in the United Kingdom in 1959. The name is derived from the syllabic abbreviation of ''Caramel ...

and Quality Street.

Formation of Rowntree Mackintosh

In 1969, Rowntree's merged with John Mackintosh and Sons Ltd. to form "Rowntree Mackintosh Ltd." The company signed a long-time agreement with Hershey Foods Corporation to market and even produce some of its products in the U.S., starting with

. The following year, the company expanded opening plants in Castleford and Leicester. In 1971, French business "Chocolate-Menier SA" joined the group. The company released its own newspaper, ''Rowntree Mackintosh News'', with a circulation of 26,000 copies.Rowntree Mackintosh Ltd.
history on The Rowntree Society The Yorkie and Lion chocolate bars were introduced in 1976. In 1978 the Hershey contract was renegotiated, giving Hershey the rights to the Kit Kat and Rolo brands in the US in perpetuity. Kenneth Dixon was appointed as chairman and chief executive in 1981. Between 1981 and 1987, Rowntree invested nearly £400 million in upgrading its manufacturing facilities and developing high volume, product dedicated equipment for several of the company's brands, including Kit Kat, After Eights and Smarties. Between 1983 and 1987, Rowntree spent nearly £400 million on acquisitions, including Tom's Foods for £138 million (1983),

Laura Secord Chocolates Laura Secord s.e.c is a Canadian chocolatier, confectionery, and ice cream company. It was named after the Canadian heroine Laura Secord. In 1813, Laura Secord, pioneer wife and mother of seven children, made a dangerous 19-mile (30-km) journey o ...

for £19 million (1983), Hot Sam Pretzels for £14 million (1986), the Sunmark confectionery business in the US for £156 million (1986) and

Gale's Gale's is a UK brand of honey, currently owned by Premier Foods. The former company had been established in 1919, remaining independent until it was acquired by Rowntree Mackintosh Confectionery in 1986. History The company was established in ...

honey for £11 million (1986). Between 1982 and 1987, the number of UK staff was reduced from 19,700 to 15,600. In 1987 Rowntree operated 25 factories in nine countries and employed 33,000 people, including close to 16,000 in its eight UK operations. Group turnover was £1.4 billion, with the UK and Ireland accounting for 40 percent of the total.

Purchase by Nestle

In 1988, Swiss company

purchased Rowntree Mackintosh Confectionery, re-branded all of its products and took over the Halifax and

headquarters and factories. After the acquisition, Nestlé slowly began to re-introduce the brand under the name "Rowntrees". These include Rowntree's Randoms, and Fruit Pastilles. These are the only two non-Nestle branded sweets as no Mackintosh sweets have been re-branded.

References

Sources

* * {{Rowntree's Rowntree's 1969 establishments in England 1988 disestablishments in England Companies based in York Confectionery companies of the United Kingdom Defunct companies based in Yorkshire British chocolate companies Nestlé Food and drink companies established in 1969 Food and drink companies disestablished in 1988 British companies established in 1969 British companies disestablished in 1988 1988 mergers and acquisitions