Peek Freans facts for kids
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| Public | |
| Industry | Food |
| Fate | Company defunct, became a brand |
| Founded | 1857 |
| Defunct | 26 May 1989 |
| Headquarters |
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United Kingdom
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| Owner |
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Peek Freans is a famous name in the world of biscuits! It started as a company in Bermondsey, London, but now it's a global brand. Different food companies own the brand in different parts of the world. For example, Mondelēz International owns it in Canada, and English Biscuit Manufacturers owns it in Pakistan.
Contents
History of Peek Freans Biscuits
The story of Peek Freans began with James Peek. He was born in Dodbrooke, Devon, in 1800. James and his two brothers started a successful tea importing company in London in 1821.
By 1857, James's sons weren't interested in the tea business. So, James suggested they start a biscuit company instead. The sons soon changed their minds, so James needed someone to run the new business. He asked his niece's husband, George Hender Frean, to manage it. George was a miller and made ship biscuits in Devon.
Starting the Biscuit Business
James Peek and George Frean officially started their company in 1857. They called it Peek, Frean & Co. Ltd. Their first factory was in an old sugar refinery in Dockhead, South East London.
The business grew very quickly. In 1860, Peek brought in his friend John Carr. John came from a family in Carlisle that also made biscuits.
Peek, Frean & Co. Ltd started sending biscuits to Australia in 1861. The company became even busier in 1870. They got a huge order from the French Army for biscuits for their soldiers. After the war, the French Government ordered millions more sweet "Pearl" biscuits. This was to celebrate the end of the Siege of Paris. This success helped the company start exporting biscuits directly to Ontario, Canada, in the mid-1870s.
Bermondsey: "Biscuit Town"
In 1865, Peek and Carr decided they needed a much bigger factory. John Carr gave the company 10 acres of land he owned in Bermondsey. They built a large, new factory there.
The factory was so big, and the smell of sweet biscuits was always in the air. This made Bermondsey famous and gave it the nickname "Biscuit Town." The new factory opened in 1866. James Peek then stepped down, and his son-in-law, Thomas Stone, took over.
On April 23, 1873, the old Dockhead factory burned down in a huge fire. Even the Prince of Wales came to see the explosions!
The Peek and Frean families eventually stopped being involved in running the business. But the Carr family stayed active with the company for many more years.
In 1906, the Peek, Frean and Co. factory in Bermondsey was featured in one of the earliest documentary films. This was partly to celebrate the company's growing cake business. Peek Freans later made the wedding cakes for famous royal weddings. These included Princess Elizabeth (who became Queen Elizabeth II) and Philip Mountbatten, and Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.
In 1924, the company opened its first factory outside the UK, in Dum Dum, India. They opened another factory in Sydney, Australia, in 1931. In 1949, they built their first bakery in Canada. This factory in East York, Ontario, still makes Peek Freans products today.
After 126 years, the London factory closed on May 26, 1989. A documentary film called Old Ways New Ways was made about its closing. The old factory site was later redeveloped into a business complex. One street nearby is still called Frean Street, named after the company's co-founder.
In 2011, a very old tinned Christmas pudding was found in a cupboard in Poole, Dorset. It was a "Peek, Frean & Co's Teetotal Plum Pudding" from 1900! This pudding was one of a thousand sent to British sailors during the Boer War. It was special because it was alcohol-free.
New Biscuit Ideas
When the company first started, they made hard, square biscuits. These were good for long journeys on ships because they lasted a long time. But John Carr brought new ideas. He knew about Scottish cake-like biscuits, like shortbread, and soft Dutch cookies.
Peek Freans started making sweeter biscuits:
- 1861: The Garibaldi, a sweet biscuit with fruit inside. It was named after an Italian general.
- 1865: The "Pearl," a soft biscuit. This was the first soft biscuit made by a UK company.
- 1875: The "Marie," an English version of the Galletas Marías.
- 1899: The first chocolate-covered sweet digestive biscuit, called the "Chocolate Table."
- 1902: "Pat-a-Cake" shortbread.
- 1910: The "Creola," a biscuit with cream filling, now known as the Bourbon biscuit.
- 1930s: Twiglets and Cheeselets were introduced.
Peek Freans was known as a good employer. At their "Biscuit Town" factory, they offered many benefits to their workers. It was like a small town with its own bank, post office, and fire station. Employees and their families could also use free medical, dental, and eye care services.
The company even reduced working hours without cutting pay. They also encouraged workers to join clubs. These included a cricket club, a musical society, and athletic and drama groups. After World War I, the company gave its employees a pension plan and a week of paid holiday each year.
Joining Other Biscuit Makers
In 1921, Peek Frean joined with another biscuit company, Huntley & Palmers. They formed a new company called Associated Biscuit Manufacturers Ltd (ABM). However, both companies kept their own brand names. Jacob's biscuits also joined this group in 1961.
Over the years, the company's name changed a bit. It went from Peek, Frean and Co. to Peek Frean, and then to Peek Freans. In the 1970s, Peek Freans had a popular jingle in their advertisements: "Peek Freans are a Very Serious Cookie."
Peek Freans Today
The company was split up starting in 1982. Different parts of the business were sold to different food companies. For example, the North American part was sold to Kraft Foods. The European part was sold to a company called BSN (now Groupe Danone).
BSN eventually stopped selling and marketing the Peek Freans brand in the UK. This led to the closure of the famous Bermondsey factory. Today, the Peek Freans brand is owned by different companies around the world.
In 2017, a descendant of Francis Peek (the first chairman of Peek Frean) bought the Peek Frean trademark.
See also
- English Biscuit Manufacturers
- Burton's Foods
- Fox's Biscuits
- Tunnock's
