Jacob's facts for kids
Jacob's is a famous Irish brand known for its tasty biscuits and crackers. You can find Jacob's products in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The company that owns the Jacob's brand in Ireland is called Jacob Fruitfield Food Group. This group is part of a bigger company named Valeo Foods.
In other parts of the world, like Asia, different companies make Jacob's biscuits. For example, United Biscuits makes them in the UK. Mondelez International makes them in Asia. This means the Jacob's brand is used by a few different companies around the world.
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The Story of Jacob's Biscuits
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The Jacob's story began in 1851. Two brothers, William Beale Jacob and Robert Jacob, started a small biscuit bakery. It was in a town called Waterford in Ireland. A year later, in 1852, they moved their business to Dublin, Ireland. They opened a factory there.
During a big event in Irish history called the Easter Rising in 1916, the Jacob's factory in Dublin was taken over by rebels. This shows how important the building was at the time.
In 1914, Jacob's opened its first factory in England. This factory was in Aintree, Liverpool. It still makes many popular Jacob's products today, like Cream Crackers and Twiglets.
How the Company Grew and Changed
In 1922, the English part of the company became separate. The Dublin company kept the name W. & R. Jacob. The Liverpool company was renamed Jacob's Bakery Ltd.
Later, in 1966, the Irish Jacob's company joined with another biscuit company called Boland's Biscuits. They formed a new company called Irish Biscuits Ltd. In 1973, they moved to a new, larger factory in Tallaght, a suburb of Dublin.
The Liverpool factory also changed hands. In 1960, it joined a group called Associated Biscuits. Then, in 1982, a company called Nabisco bought Associated Biscuits.
By 1990, both the Irish and UK Jacob's companies were owned by the same French company, Groupe Danone. But this didn't last forever. In 2004, the Jacob's Biscuit Group was split up again. United Biscuits bought the UK part of the company. Fruitfield Foods bought the Irish part. Fruitfield Foods then changed its name to Jacob Fruitfield Food Group. This group is now part of Valeo Foods.
Groupe Danone kept the rights to the Jacob's brand in Asia. Later, in 2007, Kraft Foods bought Danone's biscuit division. So, now Mondelez Malaysia makes Jacob's biscuits in Malaysia.
The Aintree factory in the UK is very busy. In 2015, it made over 55,000 tonnes of products! In 2022, it produced 4,000 tonnes of crackers. The factory even received a big investment of £10 million in 2015 to make even more biscuits.
Workers and Their Rights
A famous activist and union organizer named Rosie Hackett worked for Jacob's for some years. Back then, working conditions in the factory were not very good.
In 1911, Rosie helped organize the women workers at Jacob's. They stopped working to support the men who were already on strike. With the women's help, the men got better working conditions and a pay raise. Just two weeks later, Rosie, who was only eighteen, helped start the Irish Women Worker's Union (IWWU).
During a big workers' protest in Dublin in 1913, Rosie helped Jacob's workers join in. They stood with other workers who were also locked out by their employers. Because of her role in this protest, Jacob's fired Rosie in 1914.
In 2009, after 156 years of making biscuits in Ireland, Jacob Fruitfield closed its Tallaght factory. About 220 jobs were lost. The company kept around 100 staff in other roles.
More recently, in November 2022, workers at the Aintree factory in the UK went on strike. This happened because they couldn't agree on pay with the company. The company temporarily moved some production to Portugal. The GMB union supports the workers in this ongoing strike.
Jacob's Products
Jacob's makes many different types of biscuits and crackers. Here are some of their popular products:
Crackers for Toppings
- Cream Crackers
- Biscuits For Cheese
- Savoury Favourites
- Flatbreads
- Salt & Pepper
- Mixed Seeds
- Crispbreads
- Chive
- Mixed Seed
- Mixed Grain
- Ciabatta
- Sundried Tomato & Basil
- Original
- Krackawheat
- Choice Grain
- Sourdough
- Butter Puffs
- Cornish Wafers
- High Fibre
Snackable Crackers
- Savours
- Salt and Pepper
- Sour Cream & Chive
- Cheese
- Sweet Chilli
- Cheddars
- Pickle
- Cheese
- Smoky BBQ
Mini Cheddars
- Mini Cheddars Original 6 Pack
- Mini Cheddars Red Leicester 6 Pack
- Mini Cheddars Smoky BBQ 6 Pack
- Mini Cheddars Nacho Cheese & Jalapeño
- Mini Cheddars Chipotle Chicken Wings
- Mini Cheddars Lime & Chilli
- Mini Cheddars Strathdon Blue Cheese
- Mini Cheddars Dragon's Breath Chilli Cheddar
- Mini Cheddars Ploughman's Cheshire Cheese
Mini Cheddars Sticks
- Rich & Tangy Cheddar
- Grilled Cheddar & Sizzling Steak
Cracker Crisps
- Salt & Vinegar
- Sour Cream & Chive
- Sour Cream & Chive Caddies
Crinklys
- Variety Pack (6 Pack including 2 × Cheese & Onion, 2 × Chilli Beef and 2 × Salt & Vinegar)
- Cheese & Onion 6 Pack
Twiglets
- Twiglets Multipack
- Twiglets Caddies
Cheeselets
- Cheeselets Caddies
- Cheeselets 125g
See also
- Jacob's Awards
