Colman's is an English manufacturer of mustard and other sauces, formerly based and produced for 160 years at Carrow, in Norwich, Norfolk. Owned by Unilever since 1995, Colman's is one of the oldest existing food brands, famous for a limited range of products, almost all being varieties of mustard.
Stoke Holy Cross Mill was the home of Colman's Mustard from 1814 to 1862.
Colman founded Colman's of Norwich in 1814, at the Stoke Holy Cross mill on the River Tas, four miles (6.4km) south of Norwich.[1] In 1823 he took his adopted nephew, James, into the business, which became J. & J. Colman.[1]
In 1851, J. J. Colman took over the business.[1] By 1865, production had transferred to a large factory at Carrow Road on land at Thorpe Hamlet, bought from the Norfolk Railway to the south of Norwich,[1] where the firm operated until the Norwich closure.
The Colman family's pioneering achievements in social welfare are part of Norwich's history. In 1857 a school was opened for the employees' children,[1] while in 1864, the firm employed a nurse to help sick members of staff, a social revolution at the time.[1]
From 1896, Jeremiah Colman became chairman.[2] In 1903, the firm took over rival mustard maker Keen Robinson & Company,[1] through which it also acquired the Robinsonsbarley water and baby food business.[3] The purpose of the acquisition was to reduce competition within the mustard business.[3]
In the 19th and early 20th centuries Wisbech uniquely held annual mustard markets where the sale of the harvest of 'brown' and 'white' seed took place. Regular annual Buyers included Messrs Colman's. [4][5]
The Colman's part of the business was demerged in 1995 and Colman's became part of Unilever UK Ltd.[1][6] In addition to mustard, it applies its name to condiments, sauces and other foodstuffs. Reckitt and Colman engaged in cost-cutting as it prepared to sell the brand, getting rid of the agronomy department, which had looked after plant breeding and seed development.[7]
Colman's maintains links with Norwich. The founding family are commemorated in street names such as Colman Road (part of the A140 inner ring road), on which is situated Colman First and Middle Schools. In addition, the Colman House residence at the University of East Anglia is named after the company and Jeremiah Colman.
Relocation
In January 2018, it was announced that Colman's was to leave its base in Norwich where the condiment had been produced for 160 years and would move its production to Burton-on-Trent and Germany.[8]
In 2019, the Colman's factory in Norwich rolled its last jar of mustard off the production line and its "best before" date was changed for the occasion to: "Norwich's Last. By Its Finest. July 24th 2019".[9] Colman's continued making other condiments at the Carrow site until closing its doors in early 2020.
Colman's Mustard Shop and Museum
Colman's Mustard Shop and Museum in The Royal Arcade, Norwich, 2011Schools' display cabinet showing ingredients for Colman's manufacture which was produced between 1900 and 1939, on display in Colman's Mustard Shop and Museum
The Mustard Shop traded in Norwich from 1973 to April 2017.[10] The shop was originally opened in Bridewell Alley.[10] In 1999, the shop was relocated to Norwich's Royal Arcade.[10] Norwich Heritage Economic and Regeneration Trust took over the shop in 2009, making it both a retail operation and tourism attraction.[10] In 2015, Guildhall Enterprises took the premises from HEART.[11] The shop was closed in April 2017.[10][11]
Publicity
In the 1920s, Dorothy L. Sayers worked on their account. Sayers was employed by S. H. Benson; her collaboration with artist John Gilroy resulted in "The Mustard Club" for Colman's Mustard.[12] Media slogans such as "Come on Colman's, light my fire" appeared in the late 20th century.
While the product was still manufactured in Norfolk, Colman's was the main shirt sponsor of Norwich City Football Club.
Pot Noodle is a brand of instant noodle snack foods from the United Kingdom, available in a selection of flavours and varieties. This dehydrated food consists of noodles, assorted dried vegetables and flavouring powder. It is prepared by adding boiling water, which rapidly softens the noodles and dissolves the powdered sauce.
Hot sauce is a type of condiment, seasoning, or salsa made from chili peppers and other ingredients. Many commercial varieties of mass-produced hot sauce exist.
Bawburgh is a village and civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England, lying in the valley of the River Yare about 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Norwich city centre. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 466, increasing to 595 at the 2011 census. Bawburgh is very close to the relatively new Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and the Bowthorpe Estate.
Chili sauce and chili paste are condiments prepared with chili peppers.
A fish and chip shop, sometimes referred to as a chip shop or chippy, is a restaurant that specialises in selling fish and chips. Usually, fish and chip shops provide takeaway service, although some have seating facilities. Fish and chip shops may also sell other foods, including variations on their core offering such as battered sausage and burgers, to regional cuisine such as Indian food.
French's is an American brand of prepared mustards, condiments, fried onions, and other food items, best known for their popular yellow mustard. Created by Robert Timothy French, French's "Cream Salad Brand" mustard debuted to the world at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. By 1921, French's Mustard had adopted its trademark pennant and begun advertising to the general public. French's is now owned by McCormick & Company.
Keen's is a brand of seasoning products produced by McCormick Foods Australia, the Australian branch of the American food company McCormick & Company, and by McCormick Canada in Canada. The Keen's brand has a long history and remains a common item in kitchens throughout Australia. The brand is particularly well known for its distinctive yellow and orange tins.
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of fast food restaurants, serving around 68 million customers daily in 119 countries. McDonald's traces its origins to a 1940 restaurant in San Bernardino, California, United States. After expanding within the United States, McDonald's became an international corporation in 1967, when it opened a location in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. By the end of the 1970s, McDonald's restaurants existed in five of the Earth's seven continents; an African location came in 1992 in Casablanca, Morocco.
OK Sauce is a brand of brown sauce manufactured in the United Kingdom, first by George Mason & Company and later by Colmans.
Jeremiah James Colman was an English mustard manufacturer and the third member of the family in charge of the eponymous company Colman's. He was a popular philanthropist in his home town of Norwich and a Liberal politician who represented the city in parliament.
Jeremiah Colman (1777–1851) was an English miller who founded Colman's Mustard, a business which merged into the conglomerate Reckitt & Colman, and is now owned by Unilever.
Frank's RedHot is a hot sauce made from a variety of cayenne peppers, produced by McCormick & Company. The Original blend ranks low on the Scoville scale, with 450 SHUs, but the XTRA Hot variety measures 2,000 SHUs.
Mustard is a condiment made from the seeds of a mustard plant.
Caroline Colman was the wife of Jeremiah James Colman, the third member of the family in charge of the eponymous company Colman's mustard. Caroline Colman had exerted significant influence over the social welfare of the company and later go on to introduce numerous social measures for the employees of Carrow Works, between 1857 and her death in 1895.
Ethel Mary Colman was a philanthropist and a member of the Colman family who was Lord Mayor of Norwich in 1923–24. Colman is notable for having been the first woman to be a Lord Mayor in the United Kingdom.
Carrow Works is a former factory site in Norwich previously owned by condiment manufacturer Colman's. The site covers 40 acres, and several of the buildings within its bounds are Grade II listed, as well as the Grade I listed Carrow Abbey. In production for 165 years, the site has been referred to as "historic" due to its impact on the industry and character of Norwich.
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