Sweet History

I decided it was time to finish off the contents of these tins which had been in my cupboard for a while. I liked the designs on the tins so much I decided to photograph them. It got me wondering about the history of the company, especially given the birthday themed tin. Tate and Lyle was originally two companies. The former specialising in production of golden syrup and the latter sugar cubes. In the second half of the 19th century when the two companies were established there were 74 different sugar refineries operating in Britain. It was against this background that for many years the companies traded in competition with one another. However, in 1921 the two companies merged. By1939 their sugar refinary on the Thames was the largest in the world producing 14, 000 tons of sugar a week. The birthday tin was created in 2008 to celebrate 125 years of Tate’s trading (I said I’d had the tins in the cupboard for a long time!). Apparently their syrup was first supplied in wooden casks, then as it became more popular from large dispensers in shops, then in the tins we are familiar with today. I love it swirled in my porridge!