Bisto facts for kids
| Type | Gravy, cooking sauces and seasoning |
|---|---|
| Owner | Premier Foods |
| Introduced | 1908 |
| Markets | UK & Ireland |
| Previous owners | RHM |
| Tagline | "Aah, Bisto" |
| Website | https://www.bisto.co.uk/ |
Bisto is a very well-known brand that makes gravy and other food products. It's popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Today, a company called Premier Foods owns Bisto.
Contents
History of Bisto
The very first Bisto product came out in 1908. It was a meat-flavored gravy powder. This powder quickly became a huge seller in the UK. People added it to their gravies to make them thicker and give them a richer taste and smell. Two people, Messrs Roberts & Patterson, invented Bisto. They named it "Bisto" because it "Browns, Seasons and Thickens in One."
Later, in 1979, Bisto Granules were created. These granules dissolve easily in hot water to make gravy. By 2005, Bisto Gravy Granules were super popular, making up over 70% of the gravy market in Britain. You can find Bisto products in almost every grocery store in the UK.
Bisto Products
As of 2025, Bisto makes many different products, not just the original gravy powder.
Gravy Granules Range
This is Bisto's main range of gravy granules. You just add hot water to make gravy.
- Beef
- Beef (with less salt)
- Beef (without gluten)
- Chicken
- Chicken (with less salt)
- Chicken (without gluten)
- Chicken with garden herbs (a special edition for 2025)
- Turkey
- Vegetable
- Onion
- Southern style
- American hot & spicy
- Swedish Style Meatball
- Pigs In Blankets (bacon flavor; a special edition from 2022)
- Sausage (a special edition from 2024)
- Winter Spice (also a special edition from 2024)
- Peri Peri (a special edition for 2025)
Bisto Best Range
In 1991, Bisto launched a new, fancier type of gravy granules called Bisto Best. It came in a glass jar and had a richer flavor than the regular granules.
- Beef
- Beef (with less salt)
- Chicken
- Chicken (with less salt)
- Turkey
- Pork
- Lamb
- Vegetable
- Caramelised Onion
Gravy Pots Range
These are ready-to-use pots that you can heat up in the microwave.
- Chip Shop Gravy
- Chip Shop Curry Sauce
- Spicy Pepper Sauce
- Katsu Curry Sauce
Sauce Mixes Range
Bisto also makes mixes for different sauces.
- Cheese sauce
- Parsley sauce
- White sauce
- Curry sauce
- Pepper sauce
Frozen Foods
Some frozen foods are made under the Bisto name by other companies.
- Yorkshire puddings
- Cottage pie
- Bangers and mash
- Roast chicken dinner
- Roast beef dinner
- Shepherd's pie
- Beef in gravy
- Spaghetti bolognese
- Meat free spaghetti bolognese
- Roast lamb dinner
- Chips in curry sauce
- Chilli con carne
- Lasagne
Bisto Advertising
Bisto is famous for its long history of advertising campaigns.
The Bisto Kids
In 1919, the "Bisto Kids" first appeared in newspaper adverts. These characters, created by artist Will Owen, quickly became very popular. The Bisto Kids were a boy and a girl dressed in old, ragged clothes. They would be shown smelling the delicious aroma of Bisto gravy from afar and sighing, "Aah, Bisto!"
The Bisto Kids were part of many advertising campaigns over the years, but they haven't been in Bisto adverts since 1996.
Many old Bisto TV adverts from the UK and Ireland can be found online on websites like YouTube and Vimeo.
Advertising Through the Years
- 1930s: A competition was held in Birmingham to name the two Bisto twin characters. A couple named Mr and Mrs Simmonds won, naming them Bill and Maree.
- 1950s: One of Bisto's first TV adverts used the slogan "Bisto For All Meat Dishes."
- 1960s: Slogans like "Pass The Gravy Pass The Bisto" and "Does Cooking Proud" were used. In 1969, famous footballer Bobby Moore appeared in Bisto's first color TV advert.
- 1970s: Adverts often said "Where there's meat there's Bisto" and "Browns, seasons and thickens all in one." Many celebrities like Gordon Banks and Henry Cooper appeared in these family-themed adverts.
- 1980s: In 1984, Bisto held a national competition called "The Bisto Kids of the Year Awards" to find children to play the Bisto Kids. The first winners were Hayley Griffiths and Jimmy Endicott, who were six years old. They became the faces of Bisto and even appeared in an advert to find the next Bisto Kids.
- 1990s: Bisto gravy adverts in the 1990s sometimes used the Dean Martin song Memories Are Made of This. Other slogans included "Real Gravy in No Time at All" and "It Puts the Ahh into a Meal." Actress Julie Walters also appeared in Bisto adverts from 1996 to 1998.
2000–Present
Bisto sponsors the Bisto Book of the Year Awards in the Republic of Ireland.
A recent campaign for Bisto encourages families to eat "proper" food together at the table at least once a week.
In 2025, Bisto started working with the famous Aardman Animations cartoon characters Wallace & Gromit. You can see Wallace & Gromit on Bisto products, and people had the chance to win a special lab-grown blue diamond. A special "pop-up" restaurant called "The Gravy Boat" also opened in Paddington, London. It offered a three-course meal all about gravy, and diners could even meet Wallace, Gromit, and Feathers McGraw!
Who Owns Bisto?
Bisto has been owned by different companies over the years. Currently, Premier Foods owns Bisto. Premier Foods bought Bisto when it purchased Rank Hovis McDougall in March 2007. This made Premier Foods the biggest food manufacturing company in the UK.
Competition
Bisto's main competitor is Goldenfry Foods Ltd. Goldenfry makes its own brand of gravy and also produces most of the store-brand gravies you find in supermarkets.
Images for kids
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An old Bisto advertisement featuring the Bisto Kids.
