| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Confectionery |
| Founded | 1900 |
| Founder | Andrew McCowan |
| Defunct | 2006 |
| Fate | Merged with John Millar & Sons |
| Successor | Millar McCowan |
| Headquarters | Stenhousemuir, Scotland |
McCowan's Ltd was a Scottish confectionery company specialising in toffee and fudge. Their most famous product was Highland Toffee.
McCowan's originally began life as an aerated water business run by Andrew McCowan. His wife attempted to make some extra money on the side by selling toffee from the window of their house in Stenhousemuir. The secret recipe for the toffee was bought by McCowan in a pub from a man selling the toffee for a pint. The toffee proved more successful than the lemonade and soon became the primary family income. [1]
Within 15 years, McCowan was producing a variety of confections including tablet, rock, snowballs, lollipops and macaroons. But it was in the 1920s that McCowan began to produce the small toffee chews that would become the company's flagship confection - McCowan's Highland Toffee had arrived.
In the early years, Andrew worked from a shop in Church Street, but in 1924 he opened a factory in its current location of Tryst Road. In 1951 Andrew died, and the company passed into the hands of his son Robert McCowan. In 1959 Robert accepted an offer from the Nestlé company, yet McCowan's still sold products under its own brand [2]
During the 1980s the company introduced the Wham Bar. [3] Further development and an agreement with A.G. Barr also led to production of the Irn-Bru Bar.
In 1987 Nestlé merged with Rowntree's leading to a short term re-branding of McCowan's under the Nestlé-Rowntree name.[ citation needed ] In 1989 a management buyout occurred and the company once again became independent. In 1996 Dutch confectioner Phideas purchased the company, [4] before the company became independent once more in 2003. [5]
In 2005 the company was purchased by Graham Wallace and Andy Allan, who later that year bought John Millar & Sons. As a result McCowan's ceased to exist as an independent company and merged with John Millar & Sons to become Millar McCowan [6] [7] Millar McCowan went into administration in 2006 [8] , and a new company, The New McCowan's Ltd, was started under director Kevin Brewer [9] . In October 2011, The New McCowan's Ltd also went into administration, selling some of its brands to Tangerine Confectionery. Other brands were sold to Nisha Enterprises.
The former McCowan's factory in Stenhousemuir was closed in 2011, with some of its machinery moving to Livingston to a new Nisha Enterprises factory. [10]
Kit Kat is a chocolate-covered wafer bar confection created by Rowntree's of York, United Kingdom. It is produced globally by Nestlé, except in the United States, where it is made under licence by the H. B. Reese Candy Company, a division of the Hershey Company.
Smarties are color-varied sugar-coated dragée chocolate confectionery. They have been manufactured since 1937, originally by H.I. Rowntree & Company in the United Kingdom, and now by Nestlé.
Stenhousemuir is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town is 2 miles north-northwest of Falkirk and directly adjoins to Larbert in the west, where the nearest rail access is located. The villages of Carron and Carronshore adjoin Stenhousemuir to the east but to a lesser extent. At the 2001 census it showed that it had a resident population of 10,351 but according to a 2009 estimate this was revised to around 10,190 residents. The combined population of the four localities in 2011 was 24,722, representing about 15% of the Falkirk council area total.
Violet Crumble is an Australian chocolate bar. The bar is a crumbly honeycomb toffee centre coated in a layer of compound chocolate. It was first made by Hoadley's Chocolates in South Melbourne around the year 1913; and is currently made in Adelaide, South Australia by Robern Menz after a period of ownership by Nestlé. Its advertising slogan is "It's the way it shatters that matters", and previously was "Nothing else matters". The bar shares similarities to the Crunchie bar made by British firm Cadbury. Aside from Australia, it is available in Hawaii and a few other places, including Hong Kong, and Mollie Stone's Markets and Cost Plus World Market in the United States.
Nestlé Candy Shop was a confectionery brand owned and licensed by the Swiss corporation Nestlé. In 2018, the branding and production rights were sold to the Ferrero Group, and as a result, the brand was discontinued.
Caramac was the brand name for a caramel-based confectionery created by Mackintosh's, and was manufactured by Nestlé. It was introduced in the United Kingdom in 1959 and discontinued in 2023. The name is derived from the syllabic abbreviation of Caramel and Mackintosh.
Rolo, referring to the roll-styled chocolates, is a brand of truncated cone-shaped or conical frustum-shaped chocolates with a caramel inside. First manufactured in Norwich, Norfolk in the United Kingdom by Mackintosh's in 1937, they are made by Nestlé.
Quality Street is a line of tinned and boxed toffees, chocolates and sweets, first manufactured in 1936 by Mackintosh's in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was named after J. M. Barrie's play Quality Street. Since 1988, the confectionery has been produced by Nestlé. Quality Street has long been a competitor to Cadbury Roses, which were launched by Cadbury in 1938. Nestlé does not distribute Quality Street in the US, but it may be ordered online for delivery, or found in specialty candy shops.
Bertie Beetle is a small chocolate bar manufactured by Nestlé. It consists of a chocolate coated bar containing small pieces of honeycomb that is shaped like an anthropomorphised beetle. It was originally created as a way to use up honeycomb left over from the production of Violet Crumble bars. Originally manufactured in Australia, today they are manufactured in a factory in New Zealand.
Mackintosh's Toffee is a sweet created by Mackintosh Company.
Nestlé UK Ltd, trading as Rowntree's, is a British confectionery brand and a former business based in York, England. Rowntree developed the Kit Kat, Aero, Fruit Pastilles, Smarties brands, and the Rolo and Quality Street brands when it merged with Mackintosh's in 1969 to form Rowntree Mackintosh Confectionery. Rowntree's also launched After Eight thin mint chocolates in 1962. The Yorkie and Lion bars were introduced in 1976. Rowntree's also pioneered the festive selection box which in the UK have been a staple gift at Christmas for over a century.
Polly Waffle is a 50 gram Australian chocolate bar. It is a waffle wafer tube filled with marshmallow and coated in compound chocolate. The confection had been introduced in 1947 by the Hoadley's Chocolate Company, then taken over by Rowntree Mackintosh Confectionery in 1972. When Rowntree Mackintosh was acquired by Nestlé in 1988, the Swiss company continued producing Polly Waffles until it was discontinued in 2009.
Oatfield was a chocolate and confectionery manufacturer located in Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland. The company was the oldest confectionery manufacturer in Ireland.
The Wham Bar is a confectionery bar produced by Tangerine Confectionery and sold in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.
Mackintosh's was a British confectionery firm founded in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was known for its toffee and the Quality Street and Rolo brands.
Millar McCowan was a Scottish confectionery manufacturer. Owned by Andrew Walsh, who also runs Thornycroft. For the brands of McCowan’s and John Millar & Sons. Among its brands are Wham Bars, and Highland Toffee. It also produces traditional Scottish sweeties such as Pan Drops and Bonbons. Millar McCowan was Scotland’s largest independent confectionery manufacturer. It had production facilities at both Broxburn and Stenhousemuir. In October 2011, the company went into administration the McCowans brand was transferred firstly to Tangerine Confectionery at the same time, the Millar brand was transferred to Nisha Enterprises. Both Tangerine and Nisha chose to operate from their existing facilities leading to the closure of Millar McCowan's Stenhousemuir and Broxburn plants.
Rowntree Mackintosh plc, trading as Rowntree Mackintosh Confectionery, was an English confectionery company based in York, England. It was formed by the merger of Rowntree's and John Mackintosh Co. The company was famous for making chocolate brands, such as Kit Kat, Aero and Quality Street. It was purchased by Nestlé in 1987, with products rebranded under its own brand.
W & M Duncan and Company, best known as "Duncan's of Edinburgh", was a Scottish confectioner. The company's most popular and enduring product was the Walnut Whip, which is now manufactured by Nestlé Rowntree's.
Toffo was a British brand of toffee, produced by Mackintosh's. They came individually wrapped, in a roll, and were available in plain, mint, and assorted flavours. It was one of its main brands along with Polo, Quality Street, Toffee Crisp, Fox's Glacier Mints, and Caramac. Its original advertising slogan was "a man’s gotta chew what a man’s gotta chew". Production was taken over by Rowntree Mackintosh Confectionery after Rowntree's merged with Mackintosh's in 1969.
[Section: "McCowans Ltd"] During the early 1980s the company introduced the iconic WHAM chew bar
 | This article about a company of Scotland is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |