Spillers Ltd was a British company that owned flour milling operations, operated bakeries and also sold

pet food Pet food is animal feed intended for consumption by pets. Typically sold in pet stores and supermarkets, it is usually specific to the type of animal, such as dog food or cat food. Most meat used for animals is a byproduct of the human food indus ...

and equine feeds.

History

The business originated in 1829 from the establishment of a

flour mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. The town had a population of 41,276 at the 2021 census. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies along both sid ...

, Somerset, by Joel Spiller. The business rapidly expanded to other parts of England and Wales. In 1855 Spillers began to manufacture ships' biscuits. By 1854, Spiller opened a flour mill in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

with his business partner Samuel Browne. The mill burned down in 1882 and was rebuilt in 1887 incorporating two other mills. In 1893 a mill was built in Cardiff that formed part of a complex of steam-powered

roller mill Roller mills are mills that use cylindrical rollers, either in opposing pairs or against flat plates, to crush or grind various materials, such as grain, ore, gravel, plastic, and others. Roller grain mills are an alternative to traditional ...

s with a capacity of 100,000 tons per year. In 1889 the business merged with William Baker and Sons of Bristol to form Spillers and Bakers Ltd. At the beginning of the 20th century Spillers introduced the Turog brand of

brown bread Brown bread is bread made with significant amounts of whole grain flours, usually wheat sometimes with corn and or rye flours. Brown breads often get their characteristic dark color from ingredients such as molasses or coffee. In Canada, ...

. Spillers made the flour which was sold to bakers who were licensed to make Turog bread, which Spillers promoted by advertising. Turog was a competitor to

Hovis Hovis Ltd is a British company that produces flour, yeast and bread. Founded in Stoke-on-Trent, it began mass-production in Macclesfield in 1886. Hovis became part of Rank Hovis McDougall (RHM) in 1962 after a succession of mergers. RHM, with ...

, which used the same business model.

Winalot Winalot is a popular brand of dog food sold in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The name was first used in 1927 for dog biscuits by Spillers Ltd; they were initially marketed as a food for racing greyhounds, but soon gained popularity with dome ...

dog biscuit A dog biscuit, also called a dog treat, is a hard, biscuit-based, dietary supplement for dogs or other canines, similar to human snack food. Dog biscuits tend to be hard and dry, often sold in a flat bone-shape. The dry and hard biscuit texture ...

s were introduced by Spillers in 1927. They were initially marketed as a food for racing

greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...

s, but soon gained popularity with pet-owners and became a brand leader in the 1930s. After its acquisition by Nestlé 1998, the Winalot brand was expanded to include a range of dog foods and snacks. In 1947, Spillers acquired

Foster Mill Station Road is a road in southeast Cambridge, England.Station Area Conservation Appraisal', Quality Built Environments (QuBE), prepared for Cambridge City Council. June 2004. It leads from a junction with traffic lights on Hills Road ( A130 ...

next to

Cambridge railway station Cambridge railway station is the principal station serving the city of Cambridge, England. Situated at the end of Station Road, Cambridge, Station Road, it is south-east of the city centre. With over 10 million passengers passing through the ...

. In 1964, Spillers took over the

Kennomeat Kennomeat was a popular brand of canned dog food sold in the United Kingdom. History Robert Wilson & Sons were an established manufacturer of pet foods, with canneries in Barrhead near Glasgow and at Malone in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and in ...

dog food brand with its acquisition of a subsidiary of Robert Wilson & Sons, Scottish Animal Products Ltd. In 1978, Spillers acquired Modern Maid Food Products Inc, of New Jersey, USA. In 1979 Spillers was acquired by

Dalgety plc Dalgety plc—as Dalgety and Company—was for more than a century a major pastoral and agricultural company or stock and station agency in Australia and New Zealand. Controlled from London it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and Austr ...

, after a hostile take-over battle. The company's bakery business was spun off and sold to Allied Bakeries. In the late 1990s, following the BSE outbreak in the United Kingdom, Dalgety entered into a series of disposals and sold Spillers flour milling operations to

Kerry Group Kerry Group plc is a public food company headquartered in Ireland. It is quoted on the Dublin ISEQ and London stock exchanges. Given the company's origins in the co-operative movement, farmer-suppliers of the company retain a significant i ...

plc in 1997 and its pet foods business to

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 ...

in 1998.

External links

References

{{Authority control Companies based in Surrey Animal food manufacturers Dogs as pets Flour mills in the United Kingdom