Jordans is a British manufacturer of

breakfast cereal Breakfast cereal is a category of food, including food products, made from food processing, processed cereal, cereal grains, that are eaten as part of breakfast or as a snack food, primarily in Western societies. Although warm, cooked cereals li ...

s and cereal bars. It is part of Jordans Dorset Ryvita, a subsidiary of

Associated British Foods Associated British Foods plc (ABF) is a British multinational food processing and retailing company headquartered in London, England. Its ingredients division is the world's second-largest producer of both sugar and baker's yeast and a major pr ...

, that also encompasses Dorset Cereals and

Ryvita Ryvita is a brand of rye crispbread from Great Britain. The brand started in the 1920s and has been owned by Associated British Foods (ABF) since 1949. Today Ryvita products are manufactured and sold by Jordans Dorset Ryvita, a subsidiary of ABF ...

crispbreads.

History

In 1855, farmer William Herbert Jordan bought Holme Mills in

Biggleswade Biggleswade ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Central Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the River Ivel, 11 miles (18 km) south-east of Bedford. Its population was 16,551 in the 2011 United Kingdom census, This figur ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

, England. The mills produced flour until 1970. In 1972 the mill owners, brothers Bill and David Jordan, founded Jordans Cereals to produce

granola Granola is a food consisting of rolled oats, nuts, seeds, honey or other sweeteners such as brown sugar, and sometimes puffed rice, that is usually baked until crisp, toasted and golden brown. The mixture is stirred while baking to avoid b ...

, which they had discovered in California. Their initial product was granola. In 1981, Jordans began production of a granola bar. From 2002 to 2006 Jordans and Yeo Valley Organic backed the Organic and Natural Food Company, a startup that produced 'Green Machine' vending machines in UK schools that offered healthy foods to pupils and staff. In April 2003, the company won a

Queen's Awards for Enterprise The King's Awards for Enterprise, previously known as The Queen's Award for Enterprise, is an awards programme for British businesses and other organizations who excel at international trade, innovation, sustainable development or promoting oppor ...

. Bill Jordan became an MBE in the

2005 New Year Honours New Year Honours were granted in the United Kingdom and New Zealand at the start of 2005. Among these in the UK were knighthoods awarded to Mike Tomlinson, the educationalist; Derek Wanless, who led a review of the National Health Service; ...

for services to the food and drink industries. In September 2007, 20% of the company was sold to

, followed by a further 42% in June 2008, becoming fully owned by ABF by 2013.

Conservation efforts

The company campaigns against the rapid decline in the bee population. Its ''Big Buzz'' campaign was launched in May 2009 in collaboration with the British Beekeepers' Association and the

Bumblebee Conservation Trust The Bumblebee Conservation Trust is an organisation in the UK that makes efforts to monitor and conserve bumblebees and their habitat. History The Bumblebee Conservation Trust was established by Dave Goulson in 2006 with a grant of £49,900 f ...

Market share

Jordans is the UK's fourth largest cereals manufacturer after

Kelloggs Kellanova, formerly known as the Kellogg Company and commonly known as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, US. Kellanova produces and markets convenience foods and snack f ...

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

and

Weetabix Weetabix is a breakfast cereal produced by Weetabix Limited in the United Kingdom. It comes in the form of palm-sized (approx. 9.5 cm × 5.0 cm or 4" × 2") wheat Biscuit#Variations in meaning of biscuit, biscuits. Variants include Org ...

. Jordans belongs to the Association of Cereal Food Manufacturers, which is a member of the European Breakfast Cereal Association. Jordans Super Nutty Granola

References

External links

Jordans Cereals website

Jordans Big Buzz
{{Authority control Breakfast cereal companies Companies based in Bedfordshire Food and drink companies established in 1855 Cereal bars Organic farming organizations British brands Food manufacturers of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1855