HP Sauce

HP Sauce is a British brown sauce brand whose name and packaging are closely associated with London’s Houses of Parliament. It originated in Nottingham in the late nineteenth century, where grocer and sauce maker Frederick Gibson Garton developed and sold a brown sauce through his provisions and pickle business. Garton registered the HP name in 1895 after hearing a claim that the sauce was being served in a restaurant connected with the Houses of Parliament. The name was adopted as a reference to Parliament, although the product’s manufacturing origins were in the English Midlands rather than London. The sauce became recognizable through labels depicting the Houses of Parliament and, later, other London landmarks. Since the early twentieth century, this imagery has helped position HP Sauce as more than an everyday condiment: it became a visual symbol of British food culture and a familiar presence alongside cooked breakfasts, sausages, bacon, pies, chips, cold meats, and other savory dishes. It is also used as an ingredient in soups, stews, gravies, and marinades. The classic formula is tomato-based and combines malt vinegar and spirit vinegar with sweeteners including molasses, dates, spices, tamarind, flour, salt, and other flavoring ingredients. In 1899, Garton transferred the HP name and recipe to the Midland Vinegar Company of Aston Cross, Birmingham, after becoming unable to settle a debt with the company. The reported consideration was £150, and Garton agreed to leave the sauce and pickle trade. The Midland Vinegar Company subsequently built the brand into a major national product. The name of Garton remained on labels for many years, even though later commercial development was undertaken by the acquiring business. HP Sauce later passed through Smedley HP Foods and an Imperial Tobacco division before Groupe Danone acquired the business in 1998. Heinz bought HP Foods from Danone in 2005. The acquisition was referred to the UK Competition Commission and was approved in 2006. That same year, Heinz announced that production would move from the long-established Aston factory to its European sauces facility in Elst, the Netherlands. The decision generated substantial political, union, and consumer opposition because it ended production at a site strongly associated with the brand and resulted in the loss of approximately 125 jobs. Aston production ended in March 2007, after which the factory was demolished. HP Sauce is now manufactured by Heinz in the Netherlands. The brand has remained active in several formats and variants. The core product is sold in the familiar glass bottle, as well as plastic squeeze and TopDown formats. HP Fruity offers a milder, fruit-forward variation and has been marketed in Canada and the United States as HP Chicken & Rib. HP Bold is a spicier variant available in Canada, while HP BBQ Sauce extends the brand into barbecue products and has been described as the leading barbecue-sauce product in the United Kingdom. The original sauce also moved to a reduced-sodium recipe in 2011. Despite ownership and manufacturing changes, HP Sauce continues to occupy a distinctive position as a mass-market condiment with strong British cultural associations.

HP Sauce emerged from the late-nineteenth-century sauce trade in Nottingham. Frederick Gibson Garton operated a grocer’s and provisions business on Milton Street and manufactured pickles and sauces at a small factory behind his home in New Basford. His brown sauce used a complex mixture of vinegar, tomato puree, tamarind, garlic, spices, dried fruit, soy, flour, and salt. In 1895, Garton registered the name H.P. Sauce, reportedly inspired by a rumor that the product had been served at a restaurant in the Houses of Parliament. The name gave the sauce an immediate parliamentary and national association, and the bottles used an image of the Houses of Parliament. Garton’s ownership was short-lived. In 1899, a dispute over an unpaid debt to the Midland Vinegar Company of Aston Cross, Birmingham, led to the sale of the HP name and recipe to that company for £150. Garton also agreed to withdraw from the sauce and pickle business. The Midland Vinegar Company developed the product commercially, while the Garton name continued to appear on packaging for an extended period. From 1903, the parliamentary image became a consistent feature of the labels, helping HP Sauce become recognizable across Britain. The brand expanded through changes in corporate ownership. It later became associated with Smedley HP Foods and subsequently with a division of Imperial Tobacco. Groupe Danone acquired the HP Foods business in 1998 for a reported £199 million. Heinz bought HP Foods from Danone in June 2005. The acquisition attracted regulatory scrutiny in the United Kingdom and was approved by the Competition Commission in April 2006. The most consequential modern turning point was Heinz’s 2006 decision to move HP Sauce production from Aston, Birmingham, to Elst in the Netherlands. The announcement was controversial because Aston had been the product’s long-standing manufacturing home and because the brand was marketed through particularly strong British imagery. The move was criticized by politicians and trade unions, and consumers were encouraged by some campaigners to boycott Heinz products. In the House of Commons, Labour MP Khalid Mahmood displayed a bottle of HP Sauce during Prime Minister’s Questions while protesting the relocation. Production at Aston ended on 16 March 2007, followed by a public wake and demolition of the factory later that year. HP Sauce continued as an active Heinz brand after production moved abroad. Its range includes the standard brown sauce in glass and plastic packaging, milder fruit-based variants, spicier versions in selected markets, and barbecue sauces. The brand is used both at the table and in cooking. Its bottle imagery has included London landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Bridge, and the Queen Elizabeth Tower. A reduced-sodium version of the original sauce was introduced in 2011. HP Sauce remains particularly associated with British breakfasts and traditional savory food, while selected variants are sold in North America under different names.

• 2011

  Reduced-sodium recipe introduced

  [1]HP Sauceen.wikipedia.org

  The original HP Sauce formula was changed to contain less sodium.

• 2007

  Aston manufacturing ends

  [1]HP Sauceen.wikipedia.org

  The Aston factory stopped producing HP Sauce on 16 March, ending the brand’s long association with the Birmingham site.

• 2006

  Production relocation announced

  [1]HP Sauceen.wikipedia.org

  Heinz announced that HP Sauce production would move from Aston to Elst in the Netherlands.

• 2005

  Heinz purchases HP Foods

  [1]HP Sauceen.wikipedia.org

  Heinz acquired the parent company of HP Sauce from Danone.

• 1998

  Groupe Danone acquires HP Foods

  [1]HP Sauceen.wikipedia.org

  HP Foods passed into the ownership of French food group Groupe Danone.

• 1903

  Parliament imagery becomes established on labels

  [1]HP Sauceen.wikipedia.org

  The Houses of Parliament began appearing on HP Sauce bottle labels, reinforcing the brand’s British identity.

• 1899

  Name and recipe sold to Midland Vinegar Company

  [1]HP Sauceen.wikipedia.org

  Garton sold the HP name and recipe to the Midland Vinegar Company of Aston Cross, Birmingham, and agreed to leave the sauce and pickle trade.

• 1895

  HP Sauce name registered

  [1]HP Sauceen.wikipedia.org

  Frederick Gibson Garton registered the H.P. Sauce name for his Nottingham-made brown sauce.

Mass-market British condiment with strong national and cultural heritage associations.

• Brown sauce · 1895

  HP Original Brown Sauce

  The core HP product is a tomato-based brown sauce combining malt vinegar and spirit vinegar with molasses, other sugars, dates, tamarind, spices, flour, salt, and related flavor ingredients. It is served with hot and cold savory foods and is also used in soups, stews, gravies, and other cooking applications. It is sold in the iconic glass bottle and in plastic squeeze and TopDown formats.

• Brown sauce variant

  HP Fruity

  HP Fruity is a milder variation of the original brown sauce. Its fruit blend, including orange and mango notes, gives it a softer and tangier profile. In Canada and the United States, the variant has been marketed as HP Chicken & Rib, although the original HP Fruity name may also appear in some markets.

• Spicy brown sauce

  HP Bold

  HP Bold is a spicier HP sauce variant associated with the Canadian market. It extends the brand’s familiar sweet, acidic, and savory base with a stronger heat profile.

• Barbecue sauce

  HP BBQ Sauce

  HP BBQ Sauce is the brand’s barbecue-sauce range. It adapts the recognizable HP balance of sweetness, acidity, tomato, and spice to barbecue applications and has been described in reference material as the best-selling barbecue-sauce product in the United Kingdom.

• 2006

  Controversy over relocation of Aston production

  Heinz’s plan to move HP Sauce production from Aston, Birmingham, to the Netherlands provoked criticism from politicians, unions, and consumers. The controversy focused on the loss of approximately 125 jobs, the closure of a historically associated British factory, and the perceived tension between the brand’s patriotic packaging and overseas manufacture.

  Source

Read more

• 2006Save the Proper British Cafe

  United Kingdom

  A campaign associated with the HP brand sought to defend the cultural identity of the traditional British cafe. Its timing made Heinz’s subsequent announcement of production relocation from Aston especially controversial.

  Outcome. The campaign did not prevent the planned transfer of manufacturing to the Netherlands.

  Source

• 2011

  Reformulate the original sauce with less sodiumOther

  Background

  The brand adjusted its original recipe in the context of changing nutritional expectations.

  Action taken

  HP Sauce introduced a reduced-sodium version of the original recipe.

  Aftermath

  The original product continued as the brand’s principal brown-sauce offering with a lower-sodium formulation.

  Source

• 2006

  Move manufacturing from Aston to ElstStrategy

  Background

  Heinz reviewed the manufacturing footprint of its sauces business after acquiring HP Foods.

  Action taken

  Heinz announced and later implemented the transfer of HP Sauce production from Aston in Birmingham to Elst in the Netherlands.

  Aftermath

  Aston production ended in March 2007, approximately 125 jobs were lost, and the factory was later demolished. The move generated sustained political and consumer opposition.

  Source

• 2005

  Acquire HP FoodsM&A

  Background

  HP Foods owned the HP Sauce business and was part of Groupe Danone. Heinz sought to add the established sauce portfolio to its international food business.

  Action taken

  Heinz purchased HP Foods from Danone.

  Aftermath

  The transaction was referred for UK competition review and was approved in 2006.

  Source

1. 1HP Sauceen.wikipedia.org