| Type | Vinegar |
|---|---|
| Owner | Premier Foods |
| Country | Great Britain |
| Introduced | 1794 |
| Previous owners | Crosse & Blackwell Nestlé |
Sarson's is a brand of vinegar in the United Kingdom. It is sold in pear shaped bottles with a flip top and the brand is currently owned by Premier Foods.
Contents |
The vinegar was first created by Thomas Sarson in 1794 from malt barley. James Thomas Sarson was a vinegar maker living at Brunswick Place, Shoreditch in 1841.[1][2] Sales rocketed when his son Henry James Sarson took over. It was renamed "Sarson's Virgin Vinegar" in 1884, referencing a Biblical story of The Wise and Foolish Virgins, by which he was inspired, as opposed to the purity of the product, but this name was soon dropped.[3] In 1893, the company was trading under the name of Henry Sarson and Sons from "The Vinegar Works", Catherine Street, City Road, Shoreditch, London.[1] Two of Henry's sons, Henry Logsdail Sarson and Percival Stanley Sarson also joined the family buiness as vinegar brewers.[1][4][5]
The company was taken over by Crosse & Blackwell which in turn was taken over by Nestlé and then Premier Foods. As well as a condiment vinegar can also be used to clean windows and many other uses have been suggested for it [6]
A print of a cartoon dates from 1893 entitled "The Irony of Circumstance", featuring 'acetic faced women' in front of sign which reads "Virgin Vinegar".[7]
A Sarson's Virgin Vinegar colour advertisement postcard survives form the 1900s for a campaign entitled "She would have Sarsons". And from the 1930s and 1940s there is a photograph of a Sarson's vinegar truck and 49 photographs of the works, in a collection created by British Vinegars Limited and are held in the London Metropolitan Archives.[7]
The slogan used to advertise the product is now "Don't say vinegar - say Sarson's".