Sir Kensington's

Last updated
Sir Kensington's
Type Subsidiary
Industry Food processing
Founded2010;11 years ago (2010)
Founders
  • Mark Ramadan
  • Scott Norton
  • Brandon Child
  • Win Bennett
FateAcquired by Unilever
Headquarters,
United States
Area served
North America
Key people
  • Mark Ramadan (ex-CEO & co-founder)
  • Scott Norton (CEO & co-founder)
  • Brandon Child (co-founder)
  • Win Bennett (co-founder)
ProductsCondiments
Website www.sirkensingtons.com

Sir Kensington's is an American food company with headquarters in New York City, New York. It was founded by Mark Ramadan, Scott Norton, Brandon Child, and Win Bennett. [1] [2] The company produces Non-GMO Project Verified condiments including ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, ranch dressing, and "Fabanaise", a vegan mayo whose name is a portmanteau of the substitute ingredient aquafaba and mayonnaise which it mimics. [3]

Contents

On April 20, 2017, Unilever announced its acquisition of Sir Kensington's. The company remains independently led and managed as a wholly owned subsidiary. [4] [5] [6]

Background

Sir Kensington's Ketchup was first created in 2008 by Scott Norton, Mark Ramadan, Brandon Child, and Win Bennett. [7] [8] After two years of development, the product was commercially launched, featuring less sugar and salt than standard ketchup, and no high-fructose corn syrup. [9] The brand is named after a fictitious British merchant, who they created as a mascot to represent the company's "quirky sensibility". [10] In an interview with Bond Street, Ramadan said, "Sir Kensington was the character we created that reflected the never-ending search for something better. By making him British, it was sort of tongue-in-cheek, in that Americans look to the British for fancy things like high tea and scones." [11]

In May 2010, Ramadan and Norton became the company's first full-time employees. That year, they sold 10,000 jars in stores including Dean & DeLuca and Williams Sonoma. [8] Since then, the company has expanded to offer Non-GMO Project verified and USDA-certified organic products including mayonnaise, mustard, and vegan mayonnaise. [12] The company financed its early growth by raising $8.5 million from a Belgian private equity firm named Verlinvest and other individual investors. [13]

Products

In 2010, Sir Kensington's launched its first product: ketchup. The ketchup is packaged in glass and plastic bottles of various sizes. It offers "classic" and "spicy" ketchup varieties.

The company introduced mayonnaise in May 2013, producing in classic, avocado oil, organic, Sriracha, chipotle, special sauce, and dijonnaise varieties. [14] It also offers mustard in spicy brown, dijon, yellow, and honey mustard varieties, as well as ranch dressing in classic, avocado oil, buffalo, and pizza flavors.

In 2016, the company launched "Fabanaise", a vegan mayonnaise, made with a natural egg replacement, called aquafaba. Aquafaba is the brine water that naturally occurs when cooking chickpeas.

Awards and recognition

Sir Kensington's Fabanaise received the 2017 FABI award at the National Restaurant Association show in Chicago, Illinois. [15] as well as the 2017 NEXTY award at Expo West for product innovation. [16]

The brand was awarded the Sofi award at the Fancy Food Show in 2015 for Special Sauce, and was a 2016 finalist for Chipotle Fabanaise. Sir Kensington's Spicy Brown Mustard and Yellow Mustard have won Gold medal and Silver medals respectively at the Worldwide Mustard Competition organized by the National Mustard Museum. [17]

Fries of New York

In November 2014, Sir Kensington's created a pop-up French fry museum, entitled Fries of New York. The exhibition featured 100 French fries from New York City restaurants preserved in resin alongside materials on the history of French fries and accompanying condiments. [18] [19] [20]

Acquisition

On April 20, 2017, Unilever announced its acquisition of Sir Kensington's for an undisclosed sum. [21] [22] [23]

Related Research Articles

Mayonnaise Thick, creamy sauce often used as a condiment, composed primarily of egg yolks and oil

Mayonnaise, informally mayo, is a thick, creamy sauce or dressing commonly used on sandwiches, hamburgers, composed salads, and French fries. It also forms the base for various other sauces, such as tartar sauce, fry sauce, remoulade, salsa golf, and rouille.

Condiment Substance added to food to impart or enhance a flavor

A condiment is a sauce, or preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to impart a specific flavor, to enhance the flavor, or to complement the dish. A table condiment or table sauce is more specifically a condiment that is served separately from the food and is added to taste by the diner.

Fry sauce

Fry sauce is a condiment often served with French fries or tostones in many places in the world. It is usually a combination of one part tomato ketchup and two parts mayonnaise.

Russian dressing Salad dressing

Russian dressing is a piquant American salad dressing consisting of mayonnaise, ketchup, and other ingredients.

Remoulade Condiment that is usually aioli- or mayonnaise-based

Rémoulade is a European cold sauce based on mayonnaise. Although similar to tartar sauce, it is often more yellowish, sometimes flavored with curry, and sometimes contains chopped pickles or piccalilli. It can also contain horseradish, paprika, anchovies, capers and a host of other items.

Dipping sauce Type of sauce

A dip or dipping sauce is a common condiment for many types of food. Dips are used to add flavor or texture to a food, such as pita bread, dumplings, crackers, chopped raw vegetables, fruits, seafood, cubed pieces of meat and cheese, potato chips, tortilla chips, falafel, and sometimes even whole sandwiches in the case of jus. Unlike other sauces, instead of applying the sauce to the food, the food is typically placed or dipped into the sauce.

Hot dog variations Ways to serve the "hot dog" style of sausage from around the world

This is a listing of regional variations on the hot dog. Different areas of the world have local variations on the type of meat used, condiments, and means of preparation, which are enumerated below.

Frenchs Brand of prepared mustard, condiments, fried onions, etc.

French's is an American brand of prepared mustard, condiments, fried onions, and other food items that was 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.

A&W (Canada) Canadian fast food restaurant chain

A&W is a fast food restaurant chain in Canada, franchised by A&W Food Services of Canada, Inc. The chain was originally part of the U.S.-based A&W Restaurants chain, but was sold to Unilever in 1972, and then bought by its management in 1995. It no longer has any corporate connection to A&W operations outside of Canada.

Heinz Tomato Ketchup Brand of tomato ketchup

Heinz Tomato Ketchup is a brand of ketchup produced by the H. J. Heinz Company as part of Kraft Heinz. Heinz Ketchup holds 80% of the market share in Europe and 60% in the United States.

Amora (mustard)

Amora Maille, also written as Amora-Maille, is a French company and brand that manufactures condiments. The company is a subsidiary of Unilever and the leading condiment maker in France. The company operates two major brands, Amora and Maille.

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. 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.

Just Mayo is an egg substitute mayonnaise-like produced by Eat Just, Inc, formerly known as Hampton Creek. Just Mayo was first released in Northern California Whole Foods Markets on September 19, 2013. Just Mayo comes in original, wasabi, truffle, sesame ginger, garlic, chipotle and sriracha flavors. It has been described as "a vegan spread that has rattled the egg industry."

References

  1. Matlin, Chadwick (February 10, 2014). "Better Than Heinz". Fast Company. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
  2. Sportelli, Natalie (October 1, 2015). "Sir Kensington's Rise To Condiment Royalty". Forbes . Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  3. Richardson, Nikita (November 15, 2016). "Sir Kensington's: Three Questions For Finding Your Purpose". Fast Company. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  4. Strom, Stephanie (April 20, 2017). "Unilever Buys Sir Kensington's, Maker of Fancy Ketchup". The New York Times . Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  5. Zaleski, Olivia; Craig, Giammona (April 20, 2017). "Unilever Is Buying Mayo Upstart After Rebuffing Kraft". Bloomberg. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  6. Schultz, Clark (April 20, 2017). "Unilever acquires Sir Kensington's" . Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  7. Cullen, Catherine (April 25, 2008). "Saucy gentlemen debut a new ketchup". Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  8. 1 2 Marlin, Chadwick (October 2, 2014). "How Malcolm Gladwell Inspired Sir Kensington's Ketchup To Take On Heinz". Fast Company.
  9. Marlin, Chadwick (November 11, 2016). "Sir Kensington's: Three Questions For Finding Your Purpose" . Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  10. "The Story of Sir Kensington" . Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  11. "Pass the Ketchup - An Interview with Mark Ramadan of Sir Kensington's". Bond Street. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  12. Marlin, Chadwick (June 15, 2015). "Q&A with Scott Norton, Co-founder of Sir Kensington's Ketchup" . Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  13. Pace, Gina (September 27, 2016). "How Sir Kensington's Is Making Condiments Cool" . Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  14. Fabricant, Florence (August 6, 2013). "Front Burner: A Biodynamic Wine Shop in Brooklyn, Hot Chocolate for Cold Sipping and More". The New York Times. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  15. "2017 FABI Award Recipients: Sir Kensington's". National Restaurant Association. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  16. "Natural Products Expo West 2017: 2017 Winners" . Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  17. "The Results Are In…". National Mustard Museum. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  18. Fabricant, Florence (November 3, 2014). "An Exhibition of French Fries, Ramen for the Dining Room and More Food News". The New York Times. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  19. "Sir Kensington's - Condiments with Character" . Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  20. Singer, Mark (November 10, 2014). "On the Side". The New Yorker. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  21. Strom, Stephanie (April 20, 2017). "Unilever Buys Sir Kensington's, Maker of Fancy Ketchup". The New York Times. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  22. "Sir Kensington's — The Next Chapter". Sir Kensington's. April 20, 2017. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  23. "We Sold Sir Kensington's to Unilever to Increase Our Impact". May 15, 2017. Retrieved October 22, 2017.