Geordieland is known for many things and amongst them are a string of brands that are renowned worldwide.
They have boosted our North East good name, help put us on the global map and we are proud that they originated right here under our noses.
Throughout the decades we have come up with products that have been a huge hit with buyers and many have stood the test of time - while others have dropped off the radar but are still fondly remembered.
From a canny bag of Tudor crisps to Newcastle Brown Ale, Rington’s Tea and Be-Ro Flour, many other merchandise also have Tyneside connections.
We have gathered 13 of the best we think worthy to add to our list but if you think of any others please don’t hesitate to tell us in the comments.
1. Greggs
Everyone loves a Greggs pastie or a sausage roll. The company grew from small beginnings in Gosforth and now there is virtually a Greggs on every corner. It is the largest bakery chain in Britain and we’re proud of it.
2. Newcastle Brown Ale
Newky Brown is the Geordie’s amber nectar but we don’t mind sharing it with the rest of the worldwide. First produced in 1927 Newcastle Brown Ale is now exported to over 40 countries and is a huge hit in America. We’ll raise a glass to that!
3. Barbour
The waxed jacket has helped put us on the fashion map. Worn by royalty to the Chelsea jetset, to our local lads and lasses on Tyneside. It is a British luxury and lifestyle brand founded by John Barbour in 1894 and is still going strong from its production lines in Jarrow.
4. Ringtons
You can’t beat a good cup of tea and Ringtons is at the top of its game. Founded in 1907 by Samuel Smith, this Geordie company delivers tea across the nation through a door to door service which still continues today. Although best known for tea, Ringtons soon sold other groceries and products, including coffee, biscuits and sweets.
5. Phileas Fogg crisps
They were on everyone’s lips back in the 1980s. The brand was named after the protagonist of Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days, with the products made in Consett, County Durham. But who is old enough to remember the tang of the Mignons Morceaux and Punjab Puri flavours?
6. Tudor Crisps
For this much-loved northern snack, we need to take a trip down memory lane as despite their popularity Tudor crisps no longer exist. The brand was made in the North East and was known for its unusual choice of flavours including tomato ketchup, hot dog and mustard, fried tomato and bacon, kipper and even chocolate. In the 1970s, the brand became even more popular due to the company’s memorable advertising campaign featuring a paper boy, bribed with a “canny bag o’ Tudor” to deliver papers to a tower block – the Dunston Rocket, now demolished.
7. Craster Kippers
One of the most famous north-eastern specialities are Craster kippers, which hail from the Northumberland fishing village of Craster and are exported far and wide. Oak-smoking herring caught in the North Sea is the traditional way to preserve the fish and the Robson family in Craster has been doing it for four generations and more than 130 years. These delicious tasty kippers have sat on the plates of top restaurants to royalty. Mmmmm!
8. Be-Ro Flour
We’ve all had a cake baked with this. The company was founded by Thomas Bell as a grocery and tea company in Longhorsley, Northumberland, in 1875. He produced his self raising flour from premises near the Groat Market and later moved to buildings in Low Friar Street and then Bath Lane. Be-Ro expanded and rose to fame - Pardon the pun!
9. Domestos
Domestos was first produced in a Byker workshop in 1929 by Wilfred Handley, an industrial chemist, in a bid to improve public health. He also invented Stergene. Well known for its blue plastic containers, it was originally sold by door-to-door salesmen. Housewives would bring out their refillable stoneware jars to stock up. In the 1950s it introduced public awareness campaigns to educate consumers about the prevention of typhoid, dysentery, gastroenteritis and other illnesses. It was acquired by Lever Brothers in 1961.
10. Lucozade
Lucozade is another product that we can shout about. It was originally linked to illness but has now transcended that tag and its products are now connected with sporting fitness and giving the body energy. Lucozade was created by chemist William Owen in a shop in Barras Bridge, Newcastle, in 1927. He already had a mineral water factory and had previously experimented with providing a source of energy for those who are sick. It was made available in hospitals throughout Britain under the name Glucozade before being changed to Lucozade in 1929.
11. Fairy soap
Fairy Soap is another iconic Geordie product. Thomas Hedley began his working life with the chemical firm of John Greene and Son, in Gateshead. In 1840, at the age of 38, he rejoined the firm and later bought out his partner Greene. Soon Hedley’s products were winning an increasing share of a growing market. Chemicals and soap-making were closely bound along the banks of the Tyne and while many firms moved south to Teesside, Hedley stayed loyal to his Geordie roots. The Fairy soap brand became a Victorian household favourite and the firm prospered, until the Wall Street Crash of the late 1920s. As the slump deepened, the firm ran into serious trouble before the American company Procter and Gamble came to the rescue.
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12. Andrews Liver Salt
Andrews Liver Salt dates back to 1894, when provision importer William Henry Scott and commission William Murdoch Turner decided there was a future for the health-giving properties of their tonic. The name Andrews was adopted for the product as the Scott/Turner offices was close to St Andrew’s Church, in Newgate Street, Newcastle. The trademark Andrews Liver Salt was registered in 1909 and the product was soon exported all over the world.
13. Viz Comic
You can’t help but raise a smile to this product that has come out of Newcastle. Founded by Chris Donald in his bedroom at his parents’ house in Jesmond, with help from his brother Simon and friend Jim Brownlow, adult comic Viz is known for its tongue in cheek toilet humour. It’s circulation peaked at 1.2 million in the early 1990s.
