| Industry: | Tea |
| Founder: | Arthur Brooke |
| Hq Location: | United Kingdom |
| Parent: | LIPTON Teas and Infusions |
Brooke Bond is a brand of tea owned by LIPTON Teas and Infusions, except in India, Nepal, and Indonesia where it is owned by Unilever.[1] Brooke Bond was formerly an independent tea-trading and manufacturing company in the United Kingdom, known for its PG Tips brand and its Brooke Bond tea cards.[2]
Brooke Bond & Company was founded by Arthur Brooke, who was born at 6 George Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, England, in 1845. In 1869, he opened his first teahouse at 23 Market Street, Manchester.[3] Brooke chose the business name because it was his 'bond' to his customers to provide quality teas, hence Brooke Bond. The firm expanded into wholesale tea sales in the 1870s.
In 1903, Brooke Bond launched Red Label in British India.[4]
In 1908 Brooke Bond set up the Berkshire Printing Company Ltd, based in Reading, as the company’s printing division for tea packeting of its products and, notably, the tea cards which they contained. This also expanded from the 1930s to include production of playing cards by high quality lithography.[5]
The company opened a packing factory in Goulston Street, Stepney, London, in 1911.[6]
Brooke Bond's most famous brand is PG Tips, launched under the name Pre-Gest-Tea in 1930.[7]
By 1957, Brooke Bond was probably the largest tea company in the world, with one third share of both the British and Indian tea markets.[8]
In 1972, Brooke Bond launched Laojee in Sri Lanka.[9]
The company merged with Liebig in 1968, becoming Brooke Bond Liebig, which was acquired by Unilever in 1984. The Brooke Bond name was significantly decreased by Unilever, however, the Brooke Bond tea brand was temporarily reintroduced on sale in 2019 in the UK, for its 150th anniversary,[10] after a 20 year absence.[11]
Gold Crown Foods Ltd was licensed by Unilever to use the Brooke Bond name for the Brooke Bond 'D' and Brooke Bond Choicest brands.[12] Today, the licence for D Tea is held by Typhoo, who used to sell it through their website – it had identical packaging to before minus the words 'Brooke Bond', although it is not currently available.
Unilever reached an agreement in November 2021 to sell the majority of its tea business to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners for €4.5 billion.[13] [14] This included the Brooke Bond brand except where Unilever retained its use for tea in India, Nepal, and Indonesia. The sale was completed in July 2022, with the new company named LIPTON Teas and Infusions.
In Pakistan, Brooke Bond Supreme is the number-one-selling tea brand and is marketed by LIPTON Teas and Infusions as being stronger than its Lipton Yellow Label blend.
In North America Brooke Bond's primary product was Red Rose Tea. Red Rose is still sold by LIPTON Teas and Infusions in Canada, and by Redco Foods, a subsidiary of Teekanne, in the United States.
The Brooke Bond factory at Trafford Park near Manchester has produced PG Tips since 1930.[15] Now part of LIPTON Teas and Infusions, it also produces Pukka herbal teas.
Brooke Bond Taj Mahal tea leaves are grown in estates of Upper Assam, Darjeeling and Tripura. It grows on the northern banks of Brahmaputra, which floods its banks every monsoon, creating a rich, humid soil. There is plentiful rain in the monsoon and humidity lasts through the year. The soil and weather together give Assam Tea its terroir
Brooke Bond Red Label is made in tea manufacturing units of Assam, Cooch Behar, Darjeeling and some parts of Meghalaya. The manufacturing process of tea includes the stages of withering (leaving tea leaves to dry), rolling/cutting (through which complex series of chemical changes known as oxidation are initiated), drying and then grading into sizes.
Brooke Bond Taaza is made of high quality fresh green tea leaves.
Brooke Bond Supreme is sold in Pakistan, made from Kenyan tea leaves.
Laojee became the number retail tea brand in Sri Lanka.[16]
From 1954 until 1999, packets of Brooke Bond tea included illustrated cards, usually 50 in a series, which were collected by many children. One of the most famous illustrators of the cards was Charles Tunnicliffe, the internationally acclaimed bird painter. Most of the initial series were wildlife-based, including 'British Wild Animals', 'British Wild Flowers', 'African Wild Life', 'Asian Wild Life', and 'Tropical Birds'. From the late 1960s, they included historical subjects, such as 'British Costume', 'History of the Motor Car', and 'Famous Britons'. The last series in the 1990s concentrated on the Chimps of the TV adverts. Complete sets and albums in good condition are highly sought after collectors' items. The inclusion of these cards in packets of tea ceased in 1999. There were about 85 separate titles[17] issued around the world: 59 series issued in the UK (1954–1999), 17 series in Canada (1959–1974; 7 of these were also issued in the US, 1960–66), 6 series in what was Rhodesia (1962–66), and 3 series in South Africa (1965–67). Many of them have since been reprinted.
Complete list of UK sets
set no / Title / year of issue / number of cards in set