of 34 Victoria Street, London
Hovis is a UK brand of flour and bread, now owned by Premier Foods.
- The word "Hovis" was invented by London student Herbert Grimes in a national competition set by S. Fitton and Sons to find a trading name for their bread, which used a patent flour that was rich in wheat germ. Grimes coined the word from the Latin phrase hominis vis – "the strength of man".
- 1887 The Hovis process was patented on 6 October 1887 by Richard "Stoney" Smith (1836-1900), and S. Fitton and Sons developed the brand, milling the flour and selling it along with Hovis branded baking tins to other bakers.
- 1898 The Hovis-Bread Flour Co was registered on 2 February, to acquire the milling and flour business of S. Fitton and Son. [1]
- 1918 They became Hovis Limited.
- In 1957, McDougalls merged with Hovis to form Hovis-McDougall.
- 1962 Hovis-McDougall was taken over by Ranks Ltd to become part of the new group Rank Hovis McDougall, now the quoted food conglomerate RHM, which also owns the Mothers Pride and Nimble bread brands. The bread making division has been known as British Bakeries since 1955.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Stock Exchange Year Book 1908
- [1] Wikipedia