Rowntree's facts for kids
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Trade name
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Rowntree's |
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Formerly
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| Public | |
| Industry | Confectionery |
| Founded | 1862 |
| Founder | Henry Isaac Rowntree |
| Headquarters | York, England |
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Key people
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Joseph Rowntree |
| Products | Sweets |
| Brands |
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| Parent | Nestlé |
| Subsidiaries |
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Nestlé UK Ltd., known as Rowntree's, is a famous British sweet brand. It started in York, England. Rowntree's created many popular sweets like Kit Kat (in 1935), Aero (in 1935), Fruit Pastilles (in 1881), and Smarties (in 1937).
Later, when Rowntree's joined with Mackintosh's in 1969, they made more favourites like Rolo and Quality Street. Rowntree's also launched After Eight mint chocolates in 1962. The Yorkie and Lion bars came out in 1976. Rowntree's was also one of the first to offer selection boxes, which are gift boxes of different sweets, especially popular at Christmas.
The company began in 1862. It was known for its links to the Quaker community, who often helped others. For a long time, Rowntree's was one of the three biggest sweet makers in the UK, along with Cadbury and Fry. These companies were also started by Quakers.
In 1981, Rowntree's won the Queen's Award for Enterprise for its great work in international trade. In 1988, Nestlé bought the company. At that time, Rowntree's was the fourth-largest sweet maker in the world. Today, the Rowntree brand is still used for Nestlé's jelly sweets, like Fruit Gums and Fruit Pastilles. Rowntree's became part of Nestlé UK in 1991.
Contents
The Sweet Story of Rowntree's
Early Days in Victorian England
Rowntree's started in 1862 in York, England. It was founded by Henry Isaac Rowntree, a Quaker. He bought the business from the Tuke family.
In 1864, Henry Rowntree bought an old factory at Tanners Moat. He moved his sweet making there. By 1869, only 12 people worked at the factory. Henry faced money problems, so his brother, Joseph Rowntree, joined him. They officially formed H.I. Rowntree & Co.
In 1881, Rowntree's introduced Fruit Pastilles. These sweets were a big hit, competing with popular French imports. By 1887, Fruit Pastilles made up about a quarter of the company's sales. This success helped the company buy a special press. This press allowed them to make chocolate without cocoa butter, similar to Cadbury's popular Cocoa Essence. In the 1890s, Rowntree's grew from a small family business into a large factory. Sales more than quadrupled because more people wanted sweets.
In 1889, Seebohm Rowntree set up a small lab. Here, they tested ingredients and rival companies' products. To meet the growing demand, Rowntree's bought a large piece of land in 1890. This 20-acre site was on the edge of York, at Haxby Road. The old factory was too small. The company saw how well Cadbury's purpose-built factory in Bournville was doing. In 1893, Rowntree's launched Rowntree's Fruit Gums.
By 1897, the company needed more money to grow. It became a public company called Rowntree & Co. Some people said Rowntree's was slow to create new products compared to Cadbury. They felt Joseph Rowntree copied ideas from others, like Cadbury's Cocoa Essence and French fruit pastilles. Around 1898, the company bought its own cocoa farms in the West Indies. In 1899, Rowntree's introduced its first milk chocolate bar.
Growing Through the 20th Century
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Rowntree's found it hard to make milk chocolate as good as Cadbury's Dairy Milk. Joseph Rowntree even thought milk chocolate was just a passing trend. This became a big problem after 1914. British people started preferring milk chocolate over bitter cocoa products. Rowntree's two main rivals, Cadbury and Fry, joined together in 1918. Rowntree's was asked to join but said no. The Rowntree board couldn't decide if they should make high-quality, expensive sweets or cheaper, mass-produced ones. When Seebohm Rowntree became chairman in 1923, the company was struggling. By 1930, Rowntree's was facing serious financial difficulties.
In 1926, Rowntree's bought Cowan Company of Toronto Limited in Canada. From 1931, Rowntree of Canada started making Mackintosh toffees. In 1927, the company began selling its fruit gums in tubes. Fruit pastilles followed in 1928, also in tubes.
George Harris became the marketing manager for chocolate bars in 1931. He learned new marketing ideas in the United States. He helped the company become successful again in the 1930s. In 1932, Rowntree's hired a new advertising company, J. Walter Thompson. This company did a lot of research to find out what customers wanted. Because of this research, the Black Magic box of chocolates was launched in 1934.
In 1935, Rowntree's stopped trying to compete directly with Cadbury Dairy Milk. In May 1935, Rowntree's launched the Aero, a bubbly milk chocolate bar. The Chocolate Crisp, a wafer and chocolate bar, also came out in 1935. This later became known as the Kit Kat. In 1937, the Dairy Box of chocolates was launched, using the same research as Black Magic. Chocolate beans were first sold loose in 1938. Later, they were put in cardboard tubes and called Smarties. The Polo mint, with its famous hole, was created in 1939. However, its launch was delayed by World War II. George Harris became the company chairman in 1941.
After the War and Mergers
In the 1960s, Rowntree's started selling its products in Europe. They built factories in places like Hamburg and Dijon. After Eight thin mint chocolates were launched in 1962.
In 1969, Rowntree's turned down an offer to be bought by General Foods. That same year, Rowntree's made a deal with Hershey in the US. Hershey would make Rowntree products under license in America. Rowntree's then joined with John Mackintosh and Co in 1969. They became Rowntree Mackintosh. Mackintosh made sweets like Rolo, Munchies, Caramac, and Quality Street. Hershey's started selling Kit Kat in the US in 1970, followed by Rolo in 1971.
In 1971, Rowntree Mackintosh bought Menier Chocolate from France. In 1972, Rowntree Mackintosh also bought Hoadley's Chocolates in Australia. This company had created sweets like the Violet Crumble and Polly Waffle.
The Yorkie and Lion chocolate bars were launched in 1976. In 1978, the deal with Hershey was changed. Hershey got the rights to the Kit Kat and Rolo brands in the US forever.
Ken Dixon became chairman and chief executive in 1981. Between 1981 and 1987, Rowntree's spent a lot of money (nearly £400 million) to update its factories. They also developed special machines for popular brands like Kit Kat, After Eights, and Smarties.
Between 1983 and 1987, Rowntree's bought many other companies. These included Tom's Foods (1983), Laura Secord Chocolates (1983), Hot Sam Pretzels (1986), Sunmark confectionery (1986), and Gale's honey (1986).
Between 1982 and 1987, the number of staff in the UK went down from 19,700 to 15,600. In 1987, Rowntree's had 25 factories in nine countries. They employed 33,000 people, with almost 16,000 in their eight UK locations. The company's total sales were £1.4 billion, with the UK and Ireland making up 40% of that.
Nestlé Takes Over Rowntree's
On April 13, 1988, a Swiss sweet company called Jacobs Suchard started buying Rowntree's shares very quickly. They bought 14.9% of the company by 9:15 am. Because of this, the head of Nestlé, Helmut Maucher, offered to help Rowntree's. Nestlé was the biggest food company in the world. They had been interested in Rowntree's before. Rowntree's usually fought against any attempts to buy them. Nestlé had never tried a hostile takeover before. However, Nestlé was worried that Rowntree's might be bought by one of its main rivals. Rowntree's was the fourth-largest chocolate maker in the world, after Mars, Hershey, and Cadbury. They had 7% of the global market.
Nestlé eventually bought Rowntree's for £2.55 billion. Nestlé thought Rowntree's was a perfect match for its own business. Nestlé was strong in making block chocolate bars, while Rowntree's was strong in making individual chocolate bars (called countlines). Rowntree's strong global brands were the main reason Nestlé was interested. Nestlé believed they could save a lot of money by combining the two companies.
The takeover was a bit controversial. This was because Nestlé itself was protected from similar takeovers under Swiss law. After Nestlé bought Rowntree's, the chocolate bars started to say "Nestlé Rowntree." Later, the Rowntree name was removed from most packaging. It stayed only on Rowntree's Cocoa, Fruit Pastilles, and Fruit Gums. The Mackintosh name was also removed from most products, except for Mackintosh's Toffee.
Between 1988 and 1994, the Nestlé Rowntree workforce was reduced by 2,000 people. The Nestlé Rowntree factory in Norwich closed in 1994. The making of Rolo, Yorkie, and Easter eggs moved to the York factory.
In September 2006, Nestlé announced that Smarties would be made in Hamburg, Germany. This led to 645 job losses at the York factory. Dairy Box production moved to Spain, and Black Magic moved to the Czech Republic.
In May 2009, Nestlé launched a new jelly sweet called Rowntree's Randoms. In April 2012, another new jelly sweet, Fruit Bottles, was launched. Both are under the Rowntree's brand.
Nestlé has invested over £200 million in the Rowntree business since 1988. This has made the York factory one of the largest sweet factories in the world. Nestlé's global research center for sweets is also in York. It doubled in size after a £7 million investment.
Popular Rowntree's Sweets Today
The most famous products still sold under the Rowntree name are Rowntree's Fruit Gums, Rowntree's Fruit Pastilles, and Jelly Tots. Jelly Tots are soft, chewy, fruit-flavored sweets. They are round and covered in sugar. They are about 13mm wide and contain 25% fruit juice. They have no fake colors or flavors. Dr. Brian Boffey invented Jelly Tots when he worked for Rowntree's. Jelly Tots were launched in 1965. They quickly became a popular children's sweet in Europe. Rowntree's Randoms were introduced in 2009.
The Rowntree brand is also used for some ice lollies. These are made by R&R Ice Cream for Nestlé. Rowntree's sweets compete with similar fruit-gum products from other companies.
Advertising Rowntree's Sweets
Before 1897, the company did not advertise much. They believed that good quality products would sell themselves. When they became a public company in 1897, they hired S. H. Benson as their advertising agency.
In 1932, Rowntree's changed their advertising agency to J. Walter Thompson in London.
