HP Sauce facts for kids
 |
|
HP Sauce on a bacon sandwich
|
|
| Owner | Kraft Heinz (2005–pres.) |
|---|---|
| Introduced | 1895 |
| Markets | Europe, Canada, Australia |
| Previous owners |
|
HP Sauce is a famous British brown sauce. Its main ingredients are tomatoes, malt vinegar, and molasses. The sauce got its name from London's famous Houses of Parliament.
HP Sauce first appeared on British dinner tables in the late 1800s. It quickly became a symbol of British culture. In 2005, it was the most popular brown sauce in the UK. It held a huge 73.8% of the market! The sauce was first made in the United Kingdom. Today, it is made by Heinz in the Netherlands.
HP Sauce has a tomato base. It is mixed with malt vinegar and other vinegars. It also contains sugars like molasses, dates, cornflour, rye flour, salt, spices, and tamarind. People use it as a topping for hot and cold savoury foods. It is also an ingredient in soups and stews.
The picture on the front of the HP Sauce bottle shows famous London sights. These include Big Ben, the Palace of Westminster, and Westminster Bridge.
The Story of HP Sauce
Frederick Gibson Garton owned a grocery shop in Nottingham, England. He also had a factory where he made pickles and sauces. In this factory, he used a special recipe for a brown sauce. This recipe included vinegar, tomato puree, garlic, tamarind, and many spices.
Garton officially registered the name "H.P. Sauce" in 1895. He chose this name because he heard a rumour. The rumour was that a restaurant in the Houses of Parliament was serving his sauce. The sauce bottles even had a picture of the Houses of Parliament on their labels. Garton made other sauces too, like Nottingham Sauce and Daddies Favourite Sauce.
How HP Sauce Changed Hands
In 1899, Garton owed money to his vinegar suppliers. These suppliers were the Midland Vinegar Company. Edwin Samson Moore from the vinegar company visited Garton. Garton ended up selling the name and recipe for HP Sauce for £150. He also agreed not to make sauces or pickles anymore.
Even though Garton sold the sauce, his name stayed on the bottles for many years. But it was the Midland Vinegar Company that made a lot of money from the sauce's huge sales. Today, HP and Daddies are the two most popular brown sauces in the UK.
For a long time, the bottle labels have shown a picture of the Houses of Parliament.
In the 1960s and 1970s, people in the UK sometimes called HP Sauce "Wilson's gravy." This was because Mary Wilson, the wife of Prime Minister Harold Wilson, said something interesting. She told a newspaper that her husband would "drown everything with HP Sauce."
Heinz Buys HP Sauce
Over the years, the HP Sauce brand changed owners several times. It went from the Midlands Vinegar Company to other companies. In 1998, a French company called Groupe Danone SA bought it.
In June 2005, Heinz bought the company that owned HP Sauce from Danone. This was a big deal! The UK government's Office of Fair Trading looked into the purchase. In April 2006, they approved the £440 million deal.
In May 2006, Heinz announced a big change. They planned to move HP Sauce production from Aston in Birmingham, UK. They wanted to move it to their factory in Elst, Netherlands. This news came just weeks after HP Sauce started a campaign to "Save the Proper British Cafe."
The announcement caused a lot of anger. Many people called for a boycott of Heinz products. About 125 jobs were lost at the Aston factory. Politicians and union leaders were very upset. They especially disliked that Heinz still wanted to use the image of the House of Commons on the bottles.
In the same month, a local politician named Khalid Mahmood held up a bottle of HP Sauce. He did this during a meeting in the House of Commons. It was part of a protest against Heinz's move. He also mentioned how much former Prime Minister Harold Wilson liked the sauce.
Heinz confirmed their plans in August 2006. The Aston factory stopped making HP Sauce on March 16, 2007. A week later, a special event was held at the factory site. It was like a "wake" to say goodbye. The factory building was taken down in the summer of 2007.
The land where the factory stood was later sold. It now has a large warehouse for a food distribution company.
Different Kinds of HP Sauce
.jpg)
HP Sauce comes in different types and sizes. You can find it in the classic glass bottle. It also comes in plastic squeeze bottles.
- HP Fruity is a milder version of the original brown sauce. It uses fruits like oranges and mango for a softer, tangier taste. In Canada and the US, this version is sometimes called "HP Chicken & Rib."
- HP Bold is a spicier version available in Canada.
- HP BBQ Sauce is a range of barbecue sauces. It is the most popular barbecue sauce in the UK.
- Since 2011, the original HP sauce has been made with a new recipe. This recipe has less salt.
See also
In Spanish: Salsa HP para niños
