Typhoo

Typhoo is a brand of tea in the United Kingdom. It was launched in 1903 by John Sumner Jr. of Birmingham, England.

History

Ty•Phoo tea advertising on a bus at Trafalgar Square, 1957

Former Typhoo Tea factory and canal wharf in Digbeth, Birmingham

In 1863, William Sumner published A Popular Treatise on Tea as a by-product of the first trade missions to China from London.

In 1870, William and his son John founded a pharmacy/grocery business in Birmingham. William's grandson, John Summer Jr. (born in 1856), took over the running of the business in the 1900s. Following comments from his sister on the calming effects of tea fannings, in 1903, John Jr. decided to create a new tea that he could sell in his shop.

Sumner set his own criteria for the new brand:

The name had to be distinctive and unlike others.
It had to be a name that would trip off the tongue.
It had to be one that would be protected by registration.

The name Typhoo comes from the Chinese word for "doctor" (traditional Chinese: 大夫, hanyu pinyin: dài fū).^[1]

Slogans

The Typhoo brand is well known in Britain for its long-running television commercial campaign jingles, such as :

Putting 'T' back into Britain
There's only one 'T' in Typhoo
You only get an 'OO' with Typhoo
For the tea that picks you up, pick up Typhoo
Making Good tea since 1903
Typhoo Tea - Two Thumbs Fresh^[2]

Recent history

In 1968, Typhoo merged with Schweppes. The following year this company in turn merged with Cadbury to form Cadbury Schweppes.^[3] In 1986, in an effort to focus on their core brands, Cadbury Schweppes sold Typhoo, along with Kenco coffee and Jeyes Fluid.^[4] Typhoo was subject to management buy out forming a new company, Premier Brands, which acquired, in rapid succession, Melrose's, the Glengettie Tea Company, Ridgeways, and the Jersey Trading Corporation. In 1990, the company was itself acquired by Premier Foods, then trading as Hillsdown Holdings.^[5]

In October 2005, the Indian company Apeejay Surrendra Group purchased the brands for £80 million from Premier Foods and created The Typhoo Tea Company. The brand is still manufactured at Moreton on the Wirral.

Apeejay Typhoo Tea is the Indian arm of Typhoo, manufacturing and selling products in India.

In 2012, Typhoo became the main jersey sponsor for St Helens Rugby League club who compete in the Super League.

Executives

Keith Packer: CEO
Somnath Saha: Finance Director
Shaun English: Director - Multiples
Andy Knight: Director Impulse & Convenience sector
Chris Hall: Head of Marketing
Rahul Kale: Director of International Business

References