History
The company was founded by two Scottish brothers-in-law, Richard Callard and John Bowser, in 1779 in Maryhill, Glasgow, during the Scottish Enlightenment period. [1]
By 1881 the company employeed 41 people. Growing sales forced the company to move operations to Euston in 1894. The business was sold to Major Alfred Allnatt in 1933. Allnatt relocated production to Park Royal. In 1937 the company introduced the Cream Line toffee, which became of its most successful products. Callard & Bowser acquired the William Nuttall business, based in Doncaster, best known for its Mintoes hard candies. The takeover positioned C&B as one of the largest toffee manufacturers in the UK. [1]
Callard and Bowser was acquired by Arthur Guinness & Sons in 1951, and Allnatt kept his position as chairman. During those years, C&B acquired other companies such as Rileys and store chain Lavells, while new factory equipment was installed and another plant in Hayes, Hillingdon was bought in 1956. In 1961 the company purchased Greenford-based Rolls Confectionery. [1]
By early 1960s, C&B was part of a big four along with Edward Sharp & Sons, J.A. & P. Holland, and Mackintosh. The companies controlled over the half of the British toffee market. [1]
As C&B had became unprofitable in early 1980s, the Nuttall factory was closed down, transferring production to Halifax. By 1981 the company employeed 1,186 people. [1]
In 1982 the company was acquired by the American conglomerate Beatrice Foods for £4 million after Guinness decided to focusing on its brewing operation. [1] . In 1988 it was purchased by United Biscuits as an attempt of Beatrice Food to reduce debts. United Biscuit paid £21.5 million. [2] United Biscuits integrated C&B with its Terry's subsidiary to form the "Terry's Group". Percent share of the toffee market had grown from 29% to 34% in 1992. [1]
In 1993 the company was sold to Kraft Foods. The Altoid mints had been a huge success in the US from late 1980s, being the highest selling peppermints in that country in 1997. Sales reached 40 million tins. To focus on the Altoid products, C&B discontinued the Riley's Toffee Rolls in middle 1990s, and the Cream Line in 2001. By 2004 all the remaining lines had been discontinued, with the exception of Altoid. [1]
Kraft operated C&B until 2004, when the company was sold to Wrigley [3] for $148 billion. [1]
In 2005 Wrigley closed down the Bridgend plant with the loss of 173 jobs. Wrigley explained the 90 percent of production was being exported to the US, so it was more economical to transfer production there. With the exception of Altoids, the Callard & Bowser and Nuttall's brands were discontinued. [4] After Mars, Inc. acquired Wrigley in 2008, the Callard & Bowser brand was largely discontinued but the Altoids brand name remained.
The company's best-known products were available in peppermint, wintergreen, cinnamon, and spearmint flavors. They were packed in a distinctive rectangular tin box. Callard and Bowser formerly marketed a popular line of English toffees, which was discontinued between 2001 and 2003. [1]
