Bernard Matthews Farms - History

History

  • 1950 – Company founded
  • 1955 – Its headquarters were moved to its present location, Great Witchingham Hall near Norwich.
  • 1960 – Bernard Matthews entered the Guinness Book of Records as the biggest turkey farmer in Europe.
  • 1971 – The company was publicly listed.
  • 1980 – The company launched its first TV commercial featuring Turkey Breast Roast, with Matthews himself introducing the famous 'Bootiful' catchphrase in his thick Norfolk accent.
  • 2000 – Bernard Matthews successfully fought off a take-over bid from US food giant Sara Lee.
  • 2001 – The company was bought back by the Matthews family and taken private again.
  • 2006 – Two contract workers were convicted of animal cruelty for playing 'baseball' with live turkeys.
  • 2007 – The company's farm in Holton suffers an outbreak of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza.
  • 2007 – The company's factory B plant closes and staff moved to A plant causing many to leave or be relocated at its parent plant up the road.
  • 2008 – In July, the company re-branded from Bernard Matthews Foods to Bernard Matthews Farms and stated that all its turkey products would be made with British turkey from its own farms.
  • 2010 – In April, Bernard Matthews began a new advertising campaign, bringing back its 'Bootiful' catchphrase that was previously used between 1980 and 2007.
  • 2010 – 25 November, the founder, Bernard Matthews, died.

Read more about this topic:  Bernard Matthews Farms

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    “Don’t give your opinions about Art and the Purpose of Life. They are of little interest and, anyway, you can’t express them. Don’t analyse yourself. Give the relevant facts and let your readers make their own judgments. Stick to your story. It is not the most important subject in history but it is one about which you are uniquely qualified to speak.”
    —Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966)

    “America is the only nation in history which, miraculously, has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilization.”
    —Attributed to Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929)

    “When the history of this period is written, [William Jennings] Bryan will stand out as one of the most remarkable men of his generation and one of the biggest political men of our country.”
    —William Howard Taft (1857–1930)