Information on Brand Names.

A facinating subject and quite involved tracing all the history of Confectionery.

J S Fry & Sons - The First Chocolate Factory in England (is to close in 2010)

Joseph Fry (1728 to 1787), was apprenticed to Henry Portsmouth of Basingstoke as an apothecary and doctor. He married Portsmouth's daughter, Anna (1719/20 to 1803). Joseph Fry founded a chocolate company called Fry, Vaughan & Co. in Bristol. He also founded Fry and Pine later Joseph Fry & Co., a typefoundry.
After Joseph Fry's death in 1787 his wife, Anna Fry, took over the chocolate company and it was renamed Anna Fry & Son. The son was the first Joseph Storrs Fry (1769 to 1835) who, after his mother's death, renamed the firm J. S. Fry & Sons under which name it became quite well known. Joseph Storrs Fry was the first to introduce factory methods into the making of chocolate and the first to use a Watt's steam engine to grind the beans.

In 1847, the Fry's chocolate factory, located in Keynsham, near Bristol, England, moulded the first ever chocolate bar suitable for widespread consumption. They began producing the Fry's Chocolate Cream bar in 1866. Over 220 products were introduced in the following decades, including production of the first chocolate Easter egg in UK in 1873 and the Fry's Turkish Delight (or Fry's Turkish bar) in 1914. In 1896 the firm became a registered private company. It was run by the Fry family, with Joseph Storrs Fry, grandson of the first Joseph Storrs Fry, as the chairman. Near the start of World War I the company was the largest employer in Bristol. Joseph Storrs Fry died in 1913.
In 1919 the company merged with Cadbury's chocolate under the joint company name of British Cocoa and Chocolate Company. The Fry's division was moved to Somerdale in 1923. After 1981 the name Fry's was no longer in use at Somerdale, but the factory is still a major producer of Cadbury's products.
On 3 October 2007, Cadbury announced plans to close the Somerdale plant (historic home of the Fry's Factory) by 2010 with the loss of some 500 jobs. In an effort to maintain competitiveness in a global marketplace, production will be moved to a sister factory in Poland. Another motivational factor was the high real estate value of the land. In the longer term it is likely the greenfield site will be re-classified and provide Keynsham with much needed additional housing. Labour MP for Wansdyke, Dan Norris said "news of the factory's closure is a hard and heavy blow, not just to the workforce, but to the Keynsham community as a whole"
In late 2007 campaigns to save the Cadbury's Factory in Somerdale were in full swing. One local resident started a campaign to urge English Heritage to protect the site, and preserve the history of the factory. If successful this campaign is hoped to stop the land being sold for housing, and the historic Somerdale factory being destroyed. As of 13 December 2007 this petition has 24 signatures of local residents, including Roger Berry - MP for Kingswood in South Gloucestershire. The campaign, titled 'Save Our Somerdale', is being run online at saveoursomerdale.co.uk

Chupa Chup

In the early 1950s, Bernat worked for an apple jam factory. After he broached the idea of making lollipops, the investors left. Bernat took over the company in 1958 and renamed it Chupa Chups. He built the production machines and sold a striped bonbon on a wooden stick for one peseta (the former Spanish currency) each. Bernat got the idea of a "bonbon with a stick" from Mark Eaton, who complained about his child getting sticky hands from melting sweets and wiping them off on the cloth. Bernat felt that at that time, sweets were not designed with the main consumers(children)in mind. Shopkeepers were instructed to place the lollipops near the cash register within reach of children's hands, instead of the traditional placement behind the counter. The Chupa Chups company was a success. Within five years Bernat's sweets were sold at 300,000 outlets. After the end of the Francisco Franco dictatorship (1939/1975), the self-funded private company went international. In the 1970s the colorful lollipops appeared in South East Asian nations like Singapore and Malaysia. In the 1980s it expanded to the European and American markets, and in the 1990s to most Asian countries and the Australian market. In 1995 a Chupa Chups lollipop was brought to the Mir space-station. As of 2003, 4 billion lollipops a year are sold to 150 countries. The company has 2000 employees, makes 90 percent of its sales abroad, and has a turnover of $500m. In 1991, Bernat passed formal control of "Chupa Chups" to his son Xavier.

Barratts, Pascall, Taveners

2009 The Brand name of Barratts along with Pascall, Taveners and many more is now owned by Tangerine confectionery, a British Company. They are busy changing a lot of the old favourite logo and contents.Take the name Orchard Fruits and it no longer exists it is now Taverners Fruit Jellies. They are also taking out the E numbers and making them Halal compliant

Bristows Confectionery, Devon

2009 The Devon confectioners has been aquired by Scottish confectionery firm Millar McCowan,The plant in Crediton closed in 2008 with the loss of 69 jobs when famous fudge-maker went into receivership. It is their intention to re-establish Bristow's as the major toffee and fudge manufacturer in the UK.In January 2009, production of fudge, toffee, bonbons and boiled sweets resumed at the factory on the Lords Meadow industrial estate, under the name Bristow's Confectionery. Half the former workforce was rehired in January and the number of staff has now grown to about 50.

Smith Kendon

Founded in the City of London in 1780 by William Smith.makers of Smith Kendon Travel Sweets,In 1984 Smith Kendon acquired the Callard & Bowser, Nuttall's and Riley confectionery brands, and began trading as the Callard & Bowser Group. Callard & Bowser became part of the KRAFT Corporation.In 2005 this was acquired by The Wrigley Company. In January 2008 Smith Kendon aquired the well loved confectionery brand York Fruits, formerly produced by Terry’s of York,