McCowan's facts for kids

McCowan's Ltd was a well-known Scottish company. They made delicious sweets like toffee and fudge. Their most famous sweet was called Highland Toffee. It was a chewy treat that many people loved.

McCowan's Highland Toffee statue

The former McCowan's factory in Tryst Road, Stenhousemuir.

The Sweet Story of McCowan's

How It All Began

McCowan's started in a surprising way. Andrew McCowan first had a business selling fizzy drinks. His wife, however, found a different way to earn extra money. She began selling homemade toffee from their house window in Stenhousemuir, Scotland.

Andrew McCowan bought a special toffee recipe. He got it from a man in a pub! This secret recipe made their toffee very popular. Soon, the toffee became more successful than the lemonade. It quickly became the main way the family earned money.

Growing the Sweet Business

Within 15 years, McCowan was making many different sweets. These included tablet, rock, snowballs, lollipops, and macaroons. But the most important sweet arrived in the 1920s. This was when McCowan started making small, chewy toffee pieces. These became the company's most famous product: McCowan's Highland Toffee.

Andrew McCowan first worked from a shop on Church Street. In 1924, he opened a bigger factory. This factory was located on Tryst Road, where it stayed for many years. Andrew passed away in 1951. His son, Robert McCowan, then took over the company.

Changes and New Treats

In 1959, a big company called Nestlé made an offer. Robert McCowan accepted it. Even so, McCowan's continued to sell its sweets under its own brand name.

During the 1980s, McCowan's introduced another popular sweet. This was the Wham Bar, known for its fizzy taste. They also worked with A.G. Barr, the company that makes Irn-Bru. This led to the creation of the Irn-Bru Bar.

Becoming Independent Again

In 1987, Nestlé joined with another company called Rowntree's. For a short time, McCowan's sweets were sold under the "Nestlé-Rowntree" name. But in 1989, the company's managers bought it back. This made McCowan's independent once more.

Later, in 1996, a Dutch sweet company called Phideas bought McCowan's. However, McCowan's became independent again in 2003.

The Final Chapter

In 2005, two people, Graham Wallace and Andy Allan, bought McCowan's. Later that same year, they also bought another sweet company, John Millar & Sons. Because of this, McCowan's stopped being a separate company. It joined with John Millar & Sons to become Millar McCowan.

Millar McCowan faced difficulties in 2006. A new company, The New McCowan's Ltd, was then started. However, The New McCowan's Ltd also faced problems in October 2011. Some of its sweet brands were sold to Tangerine Confectionery. Other brands were sold to Nisha Enterprises.

The original McCowan's factory in Stenhousemuir closed its doors in 2011. Some of its machines were moved to a new factory in Livingston, owned by Nisha Enterprises.

External links

• Millar McCowan website (archived)