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| lotsajizz |
Heinz Goes Dutch on Brown Sauce
By JANE WARDELL
AP Business Writer
LONDON - More than 100 years of British tradition came to an end Friday as the final bottle of HP brown sauce - a popular alternative to ketchup - rolled off a production line at a factory in central England.
HP's U.S. owner, H.J. Heinz Co., stuck by plans to switch production of the sauce to the Netherlands to save money, despite a high-profile campaign to keep it in Britain that saw protests outside the U.S. Embassy in London and lawmakers brandishing bottles of the condiment in the House of Commons.
A staple that is smothered over everything from fish and chips to the traditional English fry-up breakfast of sausages, bacon, baked beans and eggs, its advertising slogan proudly proclaims it is "The Official Sauce of Great Britain."
Its distinctive tall bottle carries a picture of the Houses of Parliament on a blue and red label - giving rise to its name - a feature that some protesters say the sauce should now be stripped of.
The decision to close the plant in Aston, Birmingham, in favor of a new factory in Elst, in the Netherlands, will also cost 120 jobs.
"The plant has been a landmark for 108 years. You could always smell it from miles away," said Joe Clarke, a spokesman for the Transport and General Workers' Union.
"The implications for the workers are terrible," Clarke added. "Most of them were looking to spend the rest of their working lives at HP."
The sauce, a tangy mix of malt vinegar, dates, sugar, apples, tomato and spices, was invented by a Nottingham grocer and the recipe was sold to the Midland Vinegar Company in the late 1800s.
In the 1960s, it became known as "Wilson's Gravy" after the wife of Prime Minister Harold Wilson let slip that his one weakness was that "he will drown everything in HP."
There was immediate and strong opposition when Heinz announced its plan last August.
Local businesses launched a "save our sauce campaign" and lawmakers tried to get the condiment banned from food outlets in the House of Commons, with some waving bottles around during a session of the prime minister's question time.
Clare Short, a Labour lawmaker who quit the Cabinet over Iraq, took up the cause, calling for Britons to boycott Heinz products.
"That's what they deserve," she said. "It would give them a real fright. If we can make them reconsider that would be brilliant."
Earlier this week, a protester dressed as John Bull, the top-hat-wearing symbol of a typical Englishman, climbed a tower at the Aston factory to hang protest banners. Even workers at the new factory in the Netherlands objected to the move in a show of solidarity with workers in England.
But the various protests were all to no avail.
Heinz, which bought HP from French group Danone in June 2005, said the new factory would save the company $50 million over the next 10 years and claimed that half the workers from the Aston factory had already found new jobs.
"This decision comes after reviewing 17 different packages during a process lasting months," said Nigel Dickie, a spokesman for Heinz. "We simply could not find a way of continuing production at Aston and filling the financial gap."
The HP sauce currently holds 71 percent of the $82 million brown sauce market and Heinz is launching a $3.1 million marketing campaign this month to keep consumers.
The campaign will include nationwide TV spots, door drops of samples and coupons as the company invests around $8 million into the iconic brand.
But the advertising campaign has only increased the anger of opponents to the factory move.
"It is ironic that they couldn't afford to invest to keep the plant open," said John Jordan, a Transport and General Workers' Union official for the local area. "Now they are pouring millions into promoting the product because of damage to the brand."
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| egon |
isn't keef always pissed...? |
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| lotsajizz |
that's postin' on loan from God right there Egon! |
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| fireontheplatter |
i cannot eat a steak without a bottle of this stuff next to me.
i love this stuff....on occsion i do shots of it.
i am sorry so may people lost their jobs.
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| Jumping Jack |
Mrs. Kerry is an evil BITCH!!! |
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| glencar |
My first thought too, JJ! The Kerrys are behind this dastardly move! |
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| Angiegirl |
quote:
lotsajizz wrote:
...in favor of a new factory in Elst, in the Netherlands...
Elst? ELST?!
God yeah, I would be insulted too if I were British.
[Edited by Angiegirl] |
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| Bitch |
Hey quit the Bitch comments! In the business world people think by sharpening their pencils and making a profit, not by emotional sentiment. Sure I don't like to see people lose their jobs, but other people somewhere else can get a job when they move,
So can anyone tell me what does KEEF have to do with this? |
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| glencar |
Like Harold Wilson, Keith LOVES the stuff. |
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| lotsajizz |
shit, even I like the stuff now and again
fried tomatos and baked beans DO with go breakfast!
and mushrooms to go with bacon AND sausage.....blood pudding and all that
OK now
I think I should have lunch now..... |
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| glencar |
I am now boycotting the produit! |
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| lotsajizz |
I bet you had reasons before this to boycott Heinz! |
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| glencar |
Nah, I like their ketchup & no others. |
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| lotsajizz |
even Hunts? I also dig Heinz's 'Chili Sauce'....dont't know where they get the 'chili' from..it's really just a more peppery ketchup (I think) |
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| Jumping Jack |
Funny how the Kerrys had so much to say about outsourcing jobs to foreign counties when Heinz 57 actually referred to the number of countries they have factories in.
My apologies Bitch. Hypocrite would have been a better choice. |
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| Saint Sway |
I like the spicy heinz catsup that comes with the tabasco mixed in |
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| lotsajizz |
Heinz 57 is a nice glaze over roasted pork!
mmmmmmm
pork....
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| Angiegirl |
Heinz is too expensive, I always buy a generic brand of ketchup that tastes much better. |
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| glencar |
Our generics certainly don't atste better. The only major brand competition I see is called Hunt's & I do NOT likey! |
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| _Boomy_ |
quote:
glencar wrote:
Our generics certainly don't atste better. The only major brand competition I see is called Hunt's & I do NOT likey!
In my personal opinion, I think that Red Gold tastes kind of like Heinz.
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| Factory Girl |
Can I get in DC? |
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| glencar |
? |
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| _Boomy_ |
quote:
lotsajizz wrote:
I think I should have lunch now.....
You can eat your dinner,
Eat your pork and beans,
I eat more chicken
Than any man ever seen, yeah, yeah |
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| fireontheplatter |
i bet keith puts some of this on his shepherds pie.
don't bust the crust. |
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| gimmekeef |
Rumor has it tickets for Europe this summer are going to be $1000 Euros so Keith can buy the plant! |
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| Maxlugar |
quote:
lotsajizz wrote:
Heinz 57 is a nice glaze over roasted pork!
mmmmmmm
pork....
Pork? Isn't it time you face east and pray, you turd burgler? |
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| lotsajizz |
isn't it time for you to let out the gimp? |
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| Maxlugar |
quote:
lotsajizz wrote:
isn't it time for you to let out the gimp?
I'm sorry, are you still building that comeback? Should I put some flares down and some orange cones? |
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| lotsajizz |
quote:
Maxlugar wrote:
I'm sorry, are you still building that comeback? Should I put some flares down and some orange cones?
I can tell you what you can with those orange cones.
Or the flares for that matter.
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| Honky Tonk Man |
There are more important British traditions coming to an end. From this point onwards, pint glasses will not be produced with the crown symbol. Instead, we'll be seeing glasses with some euro friendly image.  |
