Sarson's
 | |
|---|---|
| Product type | Vinegar |
| Owner | Mizkan |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Introduced | 1794 |
| Previous owners |
Crosse & Blackwell Nestlé |
| Registered as a trademark in | Premier Foods |
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 Mizkan.
History and uses
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 business as vinegar brewers.[1][4][5]
The actual Sarson Vinegar factory was situated in Tanner Street in Bermondsey London on the southern approach to Tower Bridge you could smell the aroma of the Vinegar
At some point in the 1990s the Tanner Street factory was closed, and the building and factory were used for storage. Some of it was turned into apartments 2000 onwards show how the old, and new parts of the Vinegar factory have merged to form new buildings and offices. The rest of it was removed.
The company was taken over by Crosse & Blackwell which in turn was taken over by Nestlé and then Premier Foods Premier Foods agreed in July 2012 to sell its Sarson's, Haywards pickled onion and Dufrais vinegar brands to Mizkan – a 200-year-old vinegar manufacturer in Japan – for £41m as part of a streamlining programme.
Advertising
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".[6]
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.[6]
The slogan used to advertise the product is now "Don't say vinegar - say Sarson's".
The current brand mark and label design was designed by Derek Schultz of Five Fingers Design in 2006.
Varieties
- Malt and Distilled Vinegar
- Lemon Vinegar
- Light Malt Vinegar
- Pickling Strength Malt Vinegar
Other products
- Worcester sauce
- Soy sauce
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Small Collections: 1703-1973, held by Hackney Archives Department". The National Archives. Retrieved 4 September 2008.
- ↑ 1841 Census - James Sarson, aged approx 50, Vinegar Maker
- ↑ "Sarson's Vinegar". Waitrose. Retrieved 4 September 2008.
- ↑ 1901 Census - 3 Dryden Chambers, 119 Oxford Street, London - Percival S. Sarson, aged 33, Vinegar Brewer
- ↑ 1901 Census - 24 Highbury Crescent, Islington, London - Henry L. Sarson, aged 39, Vinegar Brewer
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "British Vinegars Limited, 1932-". The National Archives. Retrieved 4 September 2008.