Branston (brand)

Branston
Product type Pickle
Sauces
Owner Mizkan
Country UK
Introduced 1922
Previous owners Premier Foods
Tagline Bring out the Branston
Website www.bringoutthebranston.co.uk

Branston is a British food brand. It is best known for the original Branston Pickle, a jarred pickled chutney first made in 1922 in the Branston suburb of Burton upon Trent by Crosse & Blackwell.

In 2004 the brand was bought by Premier Foods and production was moved to Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. Premier Foods sold the brand to Mizkan in 2013. The pickle product sells over 17 million jars a year in the UK.[1]

Original pickle

A jar of Branston Pickle

Branston Pickle is made from a variety of diced vegetables, including swede, carrots, onions, cauliflower and gherkins pickled in a sauce made from vinegar, tomato, apple and dates with spices such as mustard, coriander, garlic, cinnamon, pepper, cloves, nutmeg and cayenne pepper with sugar. In recent years high-fructose corn syrup has replaced sugar in the product sold in the American market. Sugar is still used in the British version.[2]

Branston Pickle is sweet and spicy with a chutney-like consistency, containing small chunks of vegetables in a thick brown sticky sauce. It is commonly served as part of a ploughman's lunch, a common menu item in British pubs. It is also frequently combined with cheddar cheese in sandwiches, and many sandwich shops in the UK offer cheese and pickle as an option. It is available in the standard 'chunky' version, as well as a 'sandwich' variety, where the vegetable chunks are smaller and easier to spread. Premier Foods also introduced a 'squeezy' variety in a plastic bottle. A spicy variety was briefly manufactured, but was not as popular as the original versions, and is now in short supply.

Generic varieties

As with any product that becomes popular, other manufacturers have developed their own brand of a Branston-type pickle. Many supermarkets now have generic own brand versions. In order to prevent problems with the registered trade name, the terms "sweet pickle" or "ploughman's pickle" have been adopted by most manufacturers.

Brand extension

Branston Beans advertisement

Walkers once produced a variety of crisps called "Cheese and Branston Pickle".[3]

In October 2005, Premier Foods launched Branston Baked Beans. The marketing and promotion of this product was aimed at challenging Heinz's dominance of the UK baked bean market. This marketing included an advert, featuring a Branston Bean Tin explaining how Branston Beans are very "saucy". Promotional activities included a 'Great British Bean Poll' where members of the public across the country were invited to blind taste both 'the brand leader' (assumed to be Heinz) and Branston. In the poll, 76% of participants picked Branston over the brand leader. Heinz was subsequently obliged to re-evaluate its advertising strategy in the face of this aggressive activity,[4] although in public Heinz spokespeople dismissed the challenge as a 'non-starter'. Premier Foods have also attempted to leverage the traditional Branston Pickle brand name by producing Branston Relishes in four different flavours: Hot Chilli & Jalapeño, Gherkin, Sweet Onion and Tomato & Red Pepper.

Branston Depot - the original factory of Branston Pickle; on Burton Road, Branston, Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire

Sale to Mizkan

In late 2012, it was announced that as part of an aggressive debt reduction strategy, Premier Foods would be selling the Branston Brand to Japanese food manufacturer Mizkan Group for £92.5m, joining Sarson's Vinegar and Hayward's Pickled Onions as recent Premier Foods to Mizkan brand acquisitions. It is expected that the Bury St. Edmunds plant will continue to manufacture Branston products and staff will transfer to Mizkan.[5]

Availability outside the UK

Branston Pickle is available in Ireland, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, France, Denmark, Singapore (Cold Storage and Market Place), Germany (REWE and Globus Warenhaus), Turkey (Tesco Kipa), the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Belgium (Carrefour Market Etterbeek), Hong Kong (Taste), South Africa, southern Spain (Supersol and Carrefour), and Thailand, Chiang Mai (Rimping).

See also

References

  1. ↑ 77 agency. "About Branston". Bring Out The Branston. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  2. ↑ "What is Branston Pickle? (with picture)". Wisegeek.com. 30 January 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  3. ↑ "Walkers Cheese and Branston Pickle Flavour Crisps". Taquitos.net. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  4. ↑ Gill, Joe (21 February 2006). "Heinz to change baked beans recipe as it faces Branston challenge". Brandrepublic.com. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  5. ↑ "BBC News - Branston sold by Premier Foods to Japan's Mizkan". Bbc.co.uk. 30 October 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2014.

External links

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