JS Fry & Sons (1847)

In 1847, the Fry's chocolate factory, located in Union Street, Bristol, England, moulded a chocolate bar suitable for large-scale production.

The firm began producing the Fry's Chocolate Cream bar in 1866. Over 220 products were introduced in the following decades, including production of the first chocolate Easter egg in UK in 1873 and the Fry's Turkish Delight (or Fry's Turkish bar) in 1914. In 1896 the firm became a registered private company. It was run by the Fry family, with Joseph Storrs Fry II, grandson of the first Joseph Storrs Fry, as the chairman.

Near the start of World War I the company was one of the largest employers in Bristol. Joseph Storrs Fry II died in 1913. By 1919 the company merged with Cadbury's chocolate and the joint company named British Cocoa and Chocolate Company. Under Egbert Cadbury the Fry's division began the move to Somerdale, Keynsham in 1923. After 1981 the name Fry's was no longer in use at Somerdale, but the factory was still a major producer of Cadbury's products.

On 3 October 2007, Cadbury announced plans to close the Somerdale plant, the historic home of the Fry's Factory with the loss of some 500 jobs. In an effort to maintain competitiveness in a global marketplace, production was to be moved to a new factory in Poland.

I’m sure the Poles can make good chocolate but

surely not as good as the Brits who had been

making it for 200 years!

In February 2010, following the takeover of Cadbury plc by Kraft Foods, the closure was, controversially confirmed to take place in 2011. Kraft had specifically agreed during the takeover battle to keep the site open. There was widespread outrage in the press and later a House of Commons Select Committee investigation into the affair 'oh dear'

Source: Wikipedia

Images: Believed to be in the Public Domain or used with permission

Fry's Somerdale Factory, soon after it opened