Twining history

The tea interests of Harrisons Crosfield of Bankside were acquired in 1916.

A dedicated marketing manager, Brynley Evans (born 1940), was brought in from the Rank Organisation.

Part of the Twinings shop and the entire back premises were destroyed during the Blitz in 1941.

Twinings became a public company with a share capital of £400,000 in 1952.

Business continued throughout the war, although the damage necessitated that administration was relocated to Vincent Square in Westminster, followed by the Minories in the City of London, until the premises were rebuilt in 1953.

The first tea-bag – the death of tea for many – was released in 1956.

In 1964 the company was taken over by Associated British Foods, and its headquarters moved to the town of Andover, Hampshire, where it began operating as R. Twining and Co.

Production was relocated to a new £3 million plant in Andover, Hampshire from 1966.

An additional factory was opened at North Shields in the North East of England from 1970.

Japan and France were the leading export markets, whilst American sales continued to grow strongly, with a 55 percent rise between January and October 1971.

Evans was appointed as managing director from 1973.

Twinings was the second largest supplier of black tea in Japan by 1974, with 32 percent of the market.

Company turnover was over £18 million in 1976.

In 1980 Twinings began to sell decaffeinated tea, and followed that shortly with bottled iced teas in several flavors.

Twinings has a long-standing relationship with Disney that’s steeped in collaboration, and Twinings products have been featured in the Tea Caddy since the location opened at EPCOT in 1982.

Annual export sales had reached £17 million by 1983.

Twinings was the largest British exporter of tea to America by 1984.

In 2009 they even closed their award-winning tea factory in North Shields making several hundred people redundant, and moved production to Poland.

Twinings closed the North Shields factory in 2011 and halved the workforce at the Andover plant.

Launched in 2016, Sourced with Care is Twinings’ tea and herbs responsible sourcing programme.

2017 saw the launch of SuperBlends, our range of delicious benefit teas to support people looking for easy, natural ways to manage their wellbeing needs.

Julian Wellings says September 6, 2018 at 11:00 am

In 2019 Twinings launched Cold Infuse, a delicious range of herbal water enhancers that offer an easy way to drink more water and stay hydrated.

The store reopened in April 2020.

© 2021 R. Twining and Company Limited