Bassett's
English confectioner known for Liquorice Allsorts and Jelly Babies.
George Bassett & Co., commonly known as Bassett's, was an English confectionery company founded in Sheffield in 1842. The brand is best known for Liquorice Allsorts, supposedly created by accident in 1899, and for its Bertie Bassett mascot introduced in 1926. The company became a brand of Cadbury Schweppes in 1989 and later part of Mondelēz International, which merged it with Maynards in 2016.
Quick Facts
- Founded
- 1842
- Founder
- George Bassett
- Location
- Sheffield
- Best-known product
- Liquorice Allsorts
- Mascot
- Bertie Bassett (created 1926)
- Acquired by cadbury schweppes
- 1989
- Merged into maynards bassetts
- 2016
Facts from the source article.
History
George Bassett was listed in the 1842 Sheffield Directory as a wholesale confectioner, lozenge maker, and British wine trader. In 1851, he took on an apprentice named Samuel Meggitt Johnson, who later married into the family. Johnson’s descendants ran the company until Gordon Johnson stepped down as chairman in the 1970s. Bassett’s opened a factory on Broad Street in Sheffield in 1852, then moved to Owlerton in 1933, where it still operates.
The company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1929. In 1918, Bassett’s introduced a soft sweet called Peace Babies, which were renamed Jelly Babies in the 1950s; these sweets were supposedly thrown at the Beatles during concerts because George Harrison liked them. Liquorice Allsorts came about by accident when salesman Charlie Thompson dropped mixed samples in front a client, who liked the idea and was allowed to name the product. Barratt & Co. Ltd. was acquired in a friendly takeover in 1966.
In 1989, Cadbury-Schweppes bought the combined companies for £91 million. Since 2016, all products have been sold under the Maynards Bassett dual brand.
More in Confectionery Companies of the United Kingdom
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