 | |
| Company type | Private (1919–86) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Food |
| Founded | 1919; 106 years ago (1919) |
| Founder | Richard Westley Gale |
| Fate | Acquired byRowntree Mackintosh in 1986, currently a brand |
| Headquarters | United Kingdom |
Area served | U.K. |
| Products | Honey |
| Parent |
|
| Website | galeshoney.co.uk |
Gale's is a United Kingdom brand ofhoney, currently owned byPremier Foods. The former company had been established in 1919, remaining independent until it was acquired byRowntree Mackintosh Confectionery in 1986.
The company was established in 1919, when Richard Westley Gale (born 1895 in Hendon) ofRichmond and Sidney Thomas Rayner ofMortlake started their business as "Rayner & Gale" which was a partnership. The partnership was dissolved on 3 July 1926 and it became "R.W. Gale & Co. Ltd", based in theSW9 district of south London.[1]
In 1948 Joseph Farrow & Company of the Carlton Works,Fletton nearPeterborough, a subsidiary ofReckitt & Colman that made canned foods (green peas, latermarrowfat peas), bought the company.[2] In the early 1960s it introduced a peanut spread calledSmooth'n Nutty. In 1962 it introducedmincemeat. It was made in Carrow, Norwich.
For many years Gale's were the UK's biggest manufacturer of honey.
On 28 November 1986 it was bought byRowntree Mackintosh Confectionery for £11 million, and production moved toHadfield, Derbyshire. The Norwich site was later owned byUnilever Bestfoods from 1995. The Hadfield Industrial Estate site, next to theRiver Etherow, had been bought by Rowntree's in June 1967.
Rowntree Mackintosh was bought by Nestlé on 28 June 1988 in ahostile takeover.[3]
In May 2002 it was acquired byPremier Foods, when it also boughtRowntree's'sJelly and otherNestlé brands for £132 million. The Hadfield site was closed in the first quarter of 2004, and production moved to the desserts and spreads plant in Cambridgeshire[4] which also madeHartley's jam.
It is now made at Premier Foods plant atHiston, north of Cambridge. It sells around 4 million jars a year. The plant is next to theCambridgeshire Guided Busway (formerCambridge & St. Ives Branch).[citation needed]
In 1964, when owned by Joseph Farrow, it promoted the idea of stirring some of its honey into hot milk for anightcap, or to help a sore throat by putting honey into hot water with some lemon juice. In the 1960s the account was handled byJWT.
Ajingle used to advertise the honey was:Gale's, Gale's pass the honey please, think about the honey, think about the bees.
It sells strongly in the winter months from November to February each year.
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