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Gale's

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Gale's
Company typePrivate (1919–86)
IndustryFood
Founded1919; 105 years ago (1919)
FounderRichard Westley Gale
FateAcquired by Rowntree Mackintosh in 1986, currently a brand
Headquarters
U.K.
Area served
U.K.
ProductsHoney
Parent
Websitegaleshoney.co.uk

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 1919, when Richard Westley Gale (born 1895 in Hendon) of Richmond and Sidney Thomas Rayner of Mortlake started their business as "Rayner & Gale" which was a partnership. The partnership was dissolved on 3 July 1926 and it became "R.W. Gale & Co. Ltd", based in the SW9 district of south London.[1]

Reckitt & Colman

In 1948 Joseph Farrow & Company of the Carlton Works, Fletton near Peterborough, a subsidiary of Reckitt & Colman that made canned foods (green peas, later marrowfat peas), bought the company.[2] In the early 1960s it introduced a peanut spread called Smooth'n Nutty. In 1962 it introduced mincemeat. It was made in Carrow, Norwich.

For many years Gale's were the UK's biggest manufacturer of honey.

Rowntree Mackintosh

On 28 November 1986 it was bought by Rowntree Mackintosh Confectionery for £11 million, and production moved to Hadfield, Derbyshire. The Norwich site was later owned by Unilever Bestfoods from 1995. The Hadfield Industrial Estate site, next to the River Etherow, had been bought by Rowntree's in June 1967.

Rowntree Mackintosh was bought by Nestlé on 28 June 1988 in a hostile takeover.[3]

Premier Foods

In May 2002 it was acquired by Premier Foods, when it also bought Rowntree's's Jelly and other Nestlé brands for £132 million. The Hadfield site was closed in the first quarter of 2004, and production moved to the desserts and spreads plant in Cambridgeshire[4] which also made Hartley's jam.

It is now made at Premier Foods plant<ref>Premier Foods at Geograph.org at Histon, north of Cambridge. It sells around 4 million jars a year. The plant is next to the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway (former Cambridge & St. Ives Branch).

Marketing

In 1964, when owned by Joseph Farrow, it promoted the idea of stirring some of its honey into hot milk for a nightcap, or to help a sore throat by putting honey into hot water with some lemon juice. In the 1960s the account was handled by JWT.

A jingle used to advertise the honey was: Gale's, Gale's pass the honey please, think about the honey, think about the bees.

It sells strongly in the winter months from November to February each year.

Varieties

  • Gale's Traditional Set Honey
  • Gale's Traditional Clear Honey
  • Gale's Lemon Curd

References

  1. ^ "Early history". Archived from the original on 11 March 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
  2. ^ Joseph Farrow
  3. ^ Nestlé seeks buyer for Cross and Blackwell on The Telegraph, 31 Jan 2002
  4. ^ "Premier Foods 2004". Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
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