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HP Foods

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HP Foods
Company typePrivate
IndustryFood
Founded1875 in Aston, Birmingham[1]
FounderEdwin Samson Moore
Headquarters
Hayes, London
,
United Kingdom
Area served
Europe
ProductsHP Sauce, Daddies sauces, Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
OwnerThe Kraft Heinz Company
ParentH. J. Heinz Company
DivisionsHP Foods, Amoy Food UK, Lea & Perrins
Websitehpsauce.co.uk

HP Foods Limited, formerly based in Birmingham, England was best known as the producer of HP, Lea & Perrins, and Daddies sauce brands.[2] It was also the UK licensee, from Heinz, of Chinese food and condiment brand Amoy Food.[2][3]

Formerly the Midlands Vinegar Company[1] and Smedley HP Foods Limited, it was acquired by Imperial Foods, a division of Imperial Group. Edward Eastwood and his nephew Edwin Samson Moore established the Midland Vinegar Company at Aston, Birmingham in 1875.[2]

In 1939, the Birmingham Gazette noted that H.P. Sauce Ltd. also produced H.P. Tomato Ketchup, H.P. Salad Cream, H.P. Mayonnaise and the sweet pickle, Pickante. The company's wholly owned subsidiaries included the Midland Vinegar Co., F.G. Garton & Co., Mallors (Worcester Sauce),[a] Tower Yeast Company, and Lea and Perrins.[5]

HP Foods Ltd was retained by Imperial's parent company Hanson plc even after the demerger of the Imperial Group. It was sold to Groupe Danone SA in 1988 for £199 million.[2] It was sold by Danone to Heinz in June 2005 for £470 million.[2] However, in October of that year the takeover was referred by the UK's Office of Fair Trading to the Competition Commission.[6] After a review the Competition Commission approved the takeover and Heinz started integrating this new company into the business.

In 2007, the Aston factory was demolished, and production of HP and Daddies sauce brands was moved to the Netherlands.[1][7][8] 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

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Notes

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  1. ^ Spelled Mellor's in another source.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "'Great British' sauce heads abroad". BBC News. 9 May 2006.
  2. ^ a b c d e BBC News Heinz buys HP sauce in £470m deal, 20 June 2005. Retrieved on 11 March 2008.
  3. ^ Amoy Food UK website, About Amoy, retrieved on 11 March 2008.
  4. ^ Shurtleff, William; Ayoagi, Akiko (2012). History of Worcestershire Sauce (1837–2012). SoyInfo Center. ISBN 9781928914433. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  5. ^ "H.P. Sauce". Birmingham Gazette. No. 29, 740. 18 August 1939. p. 10. Retrieved 3 December 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Watchdogs probe HP sauce takeover". BBC News. 26 October 2005.
  7. ^ BBC News Staff told of HP factory closure, 23 August 2006. Retrieved on 11 March 2008.
  8. ^ BBC News Demolition of HP factory begins, 2 July 2007. Retrieved on 11 March 2008.
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