Daddies facts for kids

Daddies is a brand of ketchup and brown sauce in the United Kingdom.

History

The brown sauce product, known as Daddies Sauce, was launched in 1904, and the ketchup was launched in 1930. The brand is now owned by the H. J. Heinz Company, having been bought as part of the acquisition of HP Foods from previous owner Groupe Danone in 2005. Production of Daddies has now been moved to Poland.

In 1899, Edwin Samson Moore, the owner of the Midland Vinegar Company in Aston Cross, Birmingham, made a visit to one of his customers who owed him a debt for vinegar. That man was Hammer Schofield, a Rossendale grocer who had a small sauce factory at the rear of his premises. The recently published book HP Sauce My Ancestors' Legacy tells the story of how Moore on visiting Schofield saw a sauce brewing in the back copper. Schofield explained it was his new sauce called Daddies Sauce. Moore cancelled the debt and paid Schofield £150 (around £20,000 in today's money) for the recipe of Daddies Sauce.

In the 1993 episode of Chef!, Rice and peas (named after the iconic Jamaican dish, the secret ingredient in the amazingly good Johnny cakes turns out to be Daddies Sauce.

Marketplace competition

While both brands remain solid competitors in the UK marketplace, with strong regional popularity in the Midlands, Wales and the West Country, Daddies Ketchup trails the dominant market leader, the better-known Heinz Tomato Ketchup.