 | |
| Product type | Vinegar |
|---|---|
| Owner | Mizkan |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Introduced | 1794 |
| Previous owners | Crosse & Blackwell Nestlé Premier Foods |
| Website | www |
Sarson's is a brand of malt vinegar brewed in the United Kingdom. It is sold in pear shaped bottles with a flip top and the brand is currently owned by Mizkan. Sarson's also produces vinegar for Sainsbury's, 3663, Chef, Independent and Mizkan.
The vinegar was first brewed by Thomas Sarson in 1794 from malt barley. James Thomas Sarson was a vinegar maker living at Brunswick Place, Shoreditch in 1841. [1] [2] Sales rocketed when his son Henry James Sarson took over. It was renamed "Sarson's Virgin Vinegar" in 1884, referencing a Biblical story of The Wise and Foolish Virgins, by which he was inspired, as opposed to the purity of the product, but this name was soon dropped. [3] In 1893, the company was trading under the name of Henry Sarson and Sons from "The Vinegar Works", Catherine Street, City Road, Shoreditch, London. [1] Two of Henry's sons, Henry Logsdail Sarson and Percival Stanley Sarson also joined the family business as vinegar brewers. [1] [4] [5]
The Sarson's Vinegar factory was situated in Tanner Street in Bermondsey, London, on the southern approach to Tower Bridge, where you could smell the aroma of the vinegar.
In 1932 the company merged with other British vinegar producers to form British Vinegars Ltd. In 1968, British Vinegars purchased a site from the Co-op in Middleton, Greater Manchester and production moved there. [6]
The Tanner Street factory was closed, and the building and factory were used for storage. Starting in 2000, parts of the site were redeveloped for flats. Old and new parts of the factory were subsequently merged to form new buildings and offices. Remaining buildings were removed. There was also an additional factory in Stourport-on-Severn, now closed.
The company was taken over by Crosse & Blackwell which in turn was taken over by Nestlé but sold to Premier Foods. Premier Foods agreed in July 2012 to sell its Sarson's, Haywards pickled onion and Dufrais vinegar brands to Mizkan – a 200-year-old vinegar manufacturer in Japan – for £41m as part of a streamlining programme.
A print of a cartoon dates from 1893 entitled "The Irony of Circumstance", featuring 'acetic faced women' in front of sign which reads "Virgin Vinegar". [7]
A Sarson's Virgin Vinegar colour advertisement postcard survives from the 1900s for a campaign entitled "She would have Sarsons". And from the 1930s and 1940s there is a photograph of a Sarson's vinegar truck and 49 photographs of the works, in a collection created by British Vinegars Limited and are held in the London Metropolitan Archives. [7]
The slogan used to advertise the product is "Don't say vinegar - say Sarson's".
Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as "malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air.
Shepherd Neame is an English independent brewery which has been based in the market town of Faversham, Kent, for over 300 years. While 1698 is the brewery's official established date, town records show that commercial brewing has occurred on the site since 1573. Since the brewery’s formation back in the 16th century, ownership has passed in unbroken succession through five families. The brewery produces a range of cask ales and filtered beers. Production is around 180,000 brewers' barrels a year. It has 320 pubs and hotels in South East England, predominantly in Kent and London. The company exports to 44 countries including India, Sweden, Italy, Brazil and Canada.
Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation; converting simple sugars to ethanol using yeast and ethanol to acetic acid by acetic acid bacteria. Many types of vinegar are available, depending on source materials. It is now mainly used in the culinary arts as a flavorful, acidic cooking ingredient, or in pickling. Various types of vinegar are also used as condiments or garnishes, including balsamic vinegar and malt vinegar.
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A condiment is a 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.
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A.1. Sauce is a brand of brown sauce produced by Brand & co, a subsidiary of Premier Foods in the United Kingdom and in North America by Kraft Heinz. Sold from 1861 as a condiment for meat or game dishes in the United Kingdom, the makers introduced the product to Canada, and later to the U.S. where it was marketed as a steak sauce. A.1. sauce is still produced in England and exported to Asia. In May 2014, Kraft Foods announced it was dropping the word "steak" from the A.1. name, reverting to A.1. Sauce, to "reflect modern dining habits". Although the sauce is widely available in the U.S. and Canada, in the UK it is currently sold only by Tesco, Costco and Ocado.
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Lea & Perrins (L&P) is a United Kingdom-based subsidiary of Kraft Heinz, originating in Worcester, England, where it continues to operate. It is best known as the maker of Lea & Perrins brand of Worcestershire sauce, which was first sold in 1837 by John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins, dispensing chemists from Broad Street, Worcester.
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Mizkan Holdings is a Japanese company that produces vinegars, mustards, salad dressings, authentic East Asian sauces, nattō, and other food products. It is based in Handa, Aichi Prefecture, near Nagoya.
Brown sauce is a condiment served with food in the United Kingdom and Ireland, normally dark brown in colour. The ingredients include a varying combination of tomatoes, molasses, dates, apples, tamarind, spices, vinegar, and sometimes raisins. The taste is either tart or sweet with a peppery taste similar to that of Worcestershire sauce.
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