Atora facts for kids

Atora is a British brand of pre-shredded suet (the hard fat around the kidneys). As suet most commonly needs to be shredded in its typical uses in British cuisine (e.g. in pie crusts, steamed puddings, and dumplings), Atora can be seen as a labor-saving convenience item. Atora only uses suet from cattle and sheep.

Atora also now available in a vegetable fat-based version labeled "vegetable suet".

History

In the past, it was common to be able to find blocks of suet at grocers' shops; however, it was not until 1893 that the first pre-shredded suet became available. It was the brainchild of Gabriel Hugon, a French man living in Manchester. He observed his wife struggling to cut blocks of suet in the kitchen and set about to create ready-shredded suet.

Etymology

Hugon called his product "Atora", derived from "toro", the Spanish word for bull. To reinforce this connection, up until World War II, the suet was transported around the country by painted wagons pulled by six pairs of Hereford bulls.

Ownership

In 1974 production was moved from the factory in Ogden Lane, Openshaw, Manchester to another site at Greatham, near Hartlepool. Production at Greatham ended around 2002–2003.

The brand was bought by Rank Hovis McDougall in 1963 and, along with the rest of their assets, it became part of Premier Foods in March 2007.