Fox's Biscuits

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Fox's Biscuits is a British biscuit manufacturer, founded by the Fox family in a terrace house in Whitaker Street, Batley in West Yorkshire in 1853 and the head office and main factory are still based in the town with two further sites at Uttoxeter in Staffordshire, and at Kirkham in Lancashire. Its biscuits are also exported to Europe, North America and the Far East. The house in Whittater Street still stands though no marker is in place to record its place in the company's history. The company was purchased by Northern Foods in 1977.[1]

The business is known for mass-market biscuits and chocolate-covered biscuit bars such as Rocky, Classic, Echo, Crunch Creams and children's favourite Party Rings. They are also known for their Sports Biscuits (invented by David Glen in 1971).

The Production Director for a number of years was Scotsman James Montgomerie, father of golfer Colin Montgomerie.[2]

History

The company was founded in 1853, by Michael Spedding, who worked from his small bakehouse in Batley making "eatables" to sell at feasts and fairs held throughout the north of England. His daughter Hannah provided the name for the company, after she married Fred Ellis Fox in the late 1800s.[3]

The bakery moved to former wartime allotments in Batley in 1927 in the 1920s. In 1960 it became a limited company and was named Fox's Biscuits. In September 2013, the Yorkshire Society unveiled a White Rose plaque at the site of the first bakery on Whitaker Street: the first time that the Society presented a plaque to commemorate the formation of a business.[3]

Vinnie

On 28 May 2008 Fox's Biscuits launched a TV ad campaign and £5 million marketing campaign[4] centred on "Vinnie", a "danda" - a cross between a dog and a panda - meant to be Fox's "number one fan" who had travelled across the Atlantic to make sure everybody knew who makes his favourite biscuits (which he mispronounces with a "w" instead of a "u"). The idea of Vinnie was developed with the animation team behind Disney's The Chronicles of Narnia, MPC and Mother London. The supporting website and social media was developed by Sheffield agency, Dig for Fire.

Biscuit products

Fox's Biscuits factory in Batley, West Yorkshire.

The company website contains nutritional and allergy information as well as descriptions of each product. The biscuits currently manufactured by Fox's are:

  • Rocky (Chocolate, Caramel, Orange[Limited Edition], Crispy Crunch)
  • Rocky Chockas (Double Choc, Toffee, Honeycomb)
  • Rocky Rocks (Chocolate or Crispy Crunch)
  • Echo (Mint, Orange, Chocolate)
  • Classic
  • Cookie Bars
  • Triple
  • Viennese (Chocolate, Double Chocolate)
  • Millionaire's Shortcake
  • Shortcake Rounds
  • Extremely Chocolatey Cookie
  • Chunk Cookie (Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, White Chocolate)
  • Crunch Creams (Ginger, Golden, Chocolate Fudge, Classic)
  • Creams (Rich Tea, Jam Ring, Malted Milk, Nice, Classic)
  • Crinkles (Butter, Ginger, Coconut, Milk Chocolate)
  • Dunkers (Oaty, Shortcake)
  • Sports
  • Party Rings
  • Minis (Buttery and Oaty)
  • Creations
  • Speciality
  • Speciality Brandy Snaps
  • Favourites
  • Luxury Chocolate Carton
  • Wholemeal Cracker (Original, Tomato & Red Pepper, Cheese & Onion and Sunflower Seed & Honey)

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Our history". Northern Foods. Archived from the original on 27 December 2007. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
  2. ↑ The Scotsman
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Crumbs! 160 years of Yorkshire biscuits". Yorkshire Post. Published on 9 October 2013.
  4. ↑ Mark Sweeney guardian.co.uk, 28 May 2008

External links