Type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Food manufacture |
Predecessor | Britannia Fruit Preserving Company |
Founded | 1885 |
Founder | Arthur Charles Wilkin |
Headquarters | , |
Area served | Global |
Products | Preserves, Jams, Marmalades, Christmas Puddings, Honey, Sauces, Chutneys, Tea, Curds, Fruit Juices, Liqueurs, Spirits |
Brands | Tiptree |
Number of employees | 250 |
Website | tiptree |
Wilkin & Sons Limited is a manufacturer of preserves, marmalades and associated products established in Tiptree, Essex, England in 1885, and known for its "Tiptree" brand of fruit preserves.
The Wilkin family came to Tiptree, Essex and started farming at Trewlands farm in the early 1700s. By 1865, the farm was beginning to move from arable crops to fruit, which were shipped to markets in London. There were around 850 people living in Tiptree by that time. [1] From 1904 this was via the Kelvedon and Tollesbury Light Railway, with the company providing most of the freight traffic at Tiptree station until the line's closure in 1962. [2]
After Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone commended fruit preserving to the British population, Arthur Charles Wilkin founded the Britannia Fruit Preserving Company in 1885. [3] This produced the first "Tiptree" branded preserves, with all production sold that year to a merchant who shipped it to Australia. [3] 10 years later 400 seasonal pickers were annually harvesting 200 tons of fruit, of which half was turned into jam and preserves. [4]
Reformed as Wilkin & Sons, the company leased farms as far away as Dagenham and Suffolk. By 1906, the company owned 800 acres (320 ha) of land on farms in Tiptree, Tollesbury and Goldhanger producing 300 tons of fruit per year, [1] and feeding a factory capable at peak production of making 10 tons of strawberry jam per day. The company has held a Royal Warrant for preserves and marmalades continuously since 1911. [3]
In 1914 the local newspaper reported “During Monday, over ten tons of strawberries including a large proportion of the famous ‘Little Scarlet’ were made into jam.” [1]
With the need for a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit to produce 2 lb of preserves, production was halted during World War I due to a lack of essential supplies. But by 1922, and now owning 1,000 acres (400 ha) of farmland across eight farms, the company was creating new record outputs of fruit and preserves. An integrated production facility, the company also owned 100 houses, the village's windmill and blacksmith's forge, the Factory Club and the freehold of the Salvation Army hall. [4]
During World War II, the company and factory came under the reins of the Ministry of Food, and kept producing its preserves alongside other essential food products. [4]
In 2010, the company celebrated its 125th anniversary, [5] with a visit from Queen Elizabeth II. [1] The company commissioned a stage play to relate the life of John Joseph Mechi, silversmith, inventor and experimental farmer at Tiptree Hall. Writtle College was commissioned to create a "Tiptree" garden at the Chelsea Flower Show. [4]
Peter Wilkin, the great-grandson of the founder, remains an integral part of the business. Through a trust, employees own almost half of the business. [6]
The company farms 1,000 acres (400 ha) in and around Tiptree and grows much of its own fruit, including strawberries, plums, cherries, raspberries, mulberries, quinces, medlars and Little Scarlet , a small fruiting variety of strawberry with a unique and intense flavour. Turnover exceeded £34 million in 2012, and the business employs over 250 full-time staff with many more during the fruitpicking season.
Wilkin & Sons Limited operate a chain of tea rooms in Essex, a specialist bakery and patisserie producer (Tiptree Patisserie) and sells fresh fruit grown on the Tiptree estate. The Tiptree Visitor Centre features a tearoom, shop, and museum about the company's history, jam-making, and village life. The visitor centre and museum are located in the grounds of the jam factory.
Marmalade is a fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water. The well-known version is made from bitter orange. It is also made from lemons, limes, grapefruits, mandarins, sweet oranges, bergamots, and other citrus fruits, or a combination. Citrus is the most typical choice of fruit for marmalade, though historically the term has often been used for non-citrus preserves.
Monbulk is a town in Victoria, Australia, 42 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Monbulk recorded a population of 3,651 at the 2021 census.
Tiptree is a village and civil parish in the English county of Essex, situated 10 miles (16 km) south-west of Colchester and around 50 miles (80 km) north-east of London. Surrounding villages include Messing, Tolleshunt Knights, Tolleshunt Major, Layer Marney, Inworth, Birch, Great Braxted, Great Totham and Little Totham.
Welch Foods Inc., commonly known as Welch's, is an American company, headquartered in Concord, Massachusetts. It has been owned by the National Grape Cooperative Association, a co-op of grape growers, since 1956. Welch's is particularly known for its grape juices, jams and jellies made from dark Concord grapes and its white Niagara grape juice. The company also manufactures and markets an array of other products, including refrigerated juices, frozen and shelf-stable concentrates, organic grape juice, fruit snacks, and dried fruit. Welch's has also licensed its name for a line of grape-flavored soft drinks since 1974. Welch's grape and strawberry soda flavors are currently licensed to Global Beverage Corporation. Other popular products that use the Welch's name are the fruit snacks made by The Promotion In Motion Companies, Inc.
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The Kelvedon and Tollesbury Light Railway was a locally promoted railway company, intended to open up an agricultural district that suffered from poor transport links. The enactment of the Light Railways Act 1896 encouraged the promoters to persuade the dominant main line railway, the Great Eastern Railway (GER), to participate in the construction and operation of the line.
Robertson's is a British brand of marmalades and fruit preserves that was founded by James Robertson in 1864. The firm was run as a partnership until 1903, when it was incorporated as a limited company – James Robertson & Sons, Preserve Manufacturers, Limited. It produces the "Golden Shred" marmalade, a recipe created in 1874 and registered as a trademark in 1886, among other products including "Silver Shred" a lemon marmalade launched in 1909; "Mincemeat", a traditional Scottish style mincemeat made from raisins, peel, sugar and beef suet; and "Bramble Jelly", a traditional Scottish style jam, strained of its seeds. Robertson's received their first Royal Warrant from King George V in 1933.
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Tolleshunt Major is a small village approximately five miles north east of Maldon, in the Maldon District of Essex, England. It forms part of the electoral ward of Tolleshunt D'Arcy and is situated on the northern bank of the River Blackwater.
Little Scarlet is a type of Fragaria virginiana, a wild strawberry, and the name of a jam made from it. The species of strawberry is from North America but this selection is grown only in Britain.
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Tiptree railway station was on the Kelvedon and Tollesbury Light Railway, serving the village of Tiptree, Essex, England. The station was 3 miles 39 chains (5.61 km) from Kelvedon Low Level railway station.
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