The Peek Freans Biscuity Factory is a well-known symbol of Bermondsey’s industrial past. But far from just a manufacturing plant, it was also a place of confectionary creativity, where some of the UK’s best-loved treats got their lucky breaks.
Now home to offices, the buildings’ names – Almond Studios, Bourbon Studios and Jam Studios – hark back to sweeter times. Here are some of the sugary creations that emerged from the Bermondsey factory.
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Twiglets
Known for their unique knobbly appearance and ‘love it or hate it’ Marmite-like taste, Twiglets were invented the Peek Freans Biscuity Factory in 1929.
Although considered a British staple, they are actually the brainchild of the factory’s French technical manager J. Rondalin. He added brewer’s yeast to a leftover batch of Vitawheat dough, spawning the speckled-brown delicacy enjoyed nationwide.
From the 1930s to 70s, they were marketed as a high-class cocktail accompaniment but gradually became a regular fixture across the country’s cupboards. They used to be packaged in tin boxes but eventually migrated to cardboard tubes and crisp packets.
They have had numerous novelty incarnations. In the 1990s, and from 2010 to 2012, ‘tangy’ versions were circulated. In 1999, a curry flavour was released in partnership with Indian takeaways around the country. Today they are manufactured in Aintree by United Biscuits, a subsidiary of Jacob’s.
The Chocolate Table (Chocolate Digestive)
It’s astonishing that humans took almost two million years to invent the wheel. But what’s more shocking is that it took 60 years for somebody to put chocolate on a digestive biscuit.
The original digestive was developed in Scotland by two doctors in 1839 and manufactured by McVitie’s in 1892. But according to some accounts, Peek Freans’ ‘Chocolate Table’ was the first chocolate-topped cookie to be made commercially in the UK.
According to a recent poll of sweet-toothed Brits, chocolate digestives are the UK’s most popular biscuit, followed by shortbread, chocolate fingers, Jaffa Cakes and Hobnobs.
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The Garibaldi
Affectionately known by some as ‘squashed-fly biscuits’, garibaldis were first manufactured in Bermondsey, based on an invention by bic-whizz John Carr. The factory was churning out the raisin-dappled treats as early as 1861.
They are named after Giussepe Garibaldi an Italian general who fought for a united Italy. He enjoyed a stint of celebrity during his 1854 visit to the UK and was subsequently immortalised in dough.
The Creola (Bourbon)
The Bourbon, the first commercial cream sandwich biscuit, was marketed to the public in 1910 under the name ‘Creola’ by Peek Freans. Somebody in marketing presumably felt the name needed a classy revamp, so renamed it after the French royal House of Bourbon in the 1930s.
