Phileas Fogg Ltd is a company that produces snack products in the United Kingdom that was created in 1982 by Derwent Valley Foods. The brand is famed for Phileas Fogg, the protagonist of Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days , and the products are made in Consett, County Durham. When Derwent Valley Foods was sold in 1993, its products were rebranded but poorly received, leading to a decline in popularity. The brand was relaunched in 2009.
The Phileas Fogg snack range was launched in 1982 by Derwent Valley Foods, [1] a company founded by Roger McKechnie, [2] Keith Gill, Ray McGhee and John Pike, who invested £67,000 of their own money. The aim was to create a snack targeted to adults and branded with a recognisable character. The range included different flavours "from around the world" such as miniature garlic breads and tortilla chips.
Between the late 1980s and early 1990s, Phileas Fogg snacks achieved a turnover of more than £30 million. In 1993 the brand was purchased by United Biscuits for £24 million. [3] [2] The four founders left after the sale [2] while United Biscuits made significant changes to the packaging and identity, precipitating a decline in popularity.
United Biscuits relaunched the brand in 2009 after research showed a large number of British consumers were still aware of it. [4] The relaunch placed emphasis on using authentic ingredients from different countries. In 2013 the brand was revised under new owners KP Snacks, with the new product line-up having more emphasis on being inspired by various countries instead. However this was short-lived and the range has again been discontinued, which KP Snacks have confirmed via their social media channels.
Nabisco is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International.
Consett is a town in the County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of Durham, England, about 14 miles (23 km) south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had a population of 27,394 in 2001 and an estimate of 25,812 in 2019.
Ferrero International SA, more commonly known as Ferrero Group or simply Ferrero, is a multinational company with headquarters in Luxembourg. Ferrero is a manufacturer of branded chocolate and confectionery products, and the second biggest chocolate producer and confectionery company in the world. Ferrero SA is a private company owned by the Ferrero family and has been described as "one of the world's most secretive firms". Reputation Institute's 2009 survey ranked Ferrero as the most reputable company in the world.
Phileas Fogg is the protagonist in the 1872 Jules Verne novel Around the World in Eighty Days. Inspirations for the character were the American entrepreneur George Francis Train and American writer and adventurer William Perry Fogg.
United Biscuits (UB) is a British multinational food manufacturer, makers of McVitie's biscuits, Jacob's Cream Crackers, and Twiglets. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In November 2014, the company was acquired by Yıldız Holding and is now part of Pladis.
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