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Brooke Bond is-WPS Office
Brooke Bond is-WPS Office
manufacturing company in the United Kingdom, known for its PG Tips brand and its Brooke Bond tea
cards.
History Edit
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 tea shop at 23 Market Street,
Manchester.[1] 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.[1]
The company opened a packing factory in Goulston Street, Stepney, London, in 1911.[3]
Brooke Bond's most famous brand is PG Tips, launched in 1930.[4] 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.[5]
The company merged with Liebig in 1968, becoming Brooke Bond Liebig, which was acquired by Unilever
in 1984. The Brooke Bond name has since been significantly decreased by Unilever, however, it is
possible to still buy boxes of 'Brooke Bond Tea Co' tea in the UK, but not in supermarkets. Gold Crown
Foods Ltd was licensed by Unilever to use the Brooke Bond name for the Brooke Bond 'D' and Brooke
Bond Choicest brands.[6] 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. It was also regularly sold across Britain in Poundland stores. The Brooke Bond brand
is still used in other countries, especially in India. In Pakistan, Brooke Bond Supreme is the number-one-
selling tea brand. Unilever markets it 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 Unilever in
Canada, but in the United States is now marketed by Redco Foods.
Brooke Bond Taj Mahal tea leaves are grown in estates of Upper Assam, Darjeeling and Tripura. It grows
on the northern banks of the great 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' – a dark red brew, a strong malty flavor and deep body.
Brooke Bond Red Label, the Indian blend, is made in tea manufacturing units of Assam, Coochbehar,
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 imported to Pakistan, made from Kenyan tea leaves.
Cards
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 90s 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 a total of about 85 separate titles[7]
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 USA, 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.
L02 Zena Skinner's International Cookery 1974 / 50 (no album – large cards)
B49 40 Years of Cards 1994 / 48 (mail order only – not included in boxes of tea)
B57 Oracle Cards 1999 / 19 (no album; cards were held over a hot cup of tea, the heat
revealed a 'prediction')
- Survey Card 1999 / 1 (survey to ask if customers wanted Brooke Bond to keep issuing sets of
cards or not)