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We’ve been baking Crunchy Rye Breads for over 90 years, take a look below to discover a bit more about us and where we came from.
An enterprising Englishman, John Edwin Garratt, having seen crispbread abroad, started a venture in this country. The Ryvita Company started trading on 4th April 1925.
At first, we imported our Crunchy Rye Breads from Sweden. But, in 1932, a bakery was set up in Birmingham, producing one of the first ‘packaged goods’ in the baking field.
We sold our first iconic Ryvita tin.
A new bakery was built in Poole, after the Birmingham bakery was destroyed in a bombing raid in World War II.
In 1949 Garfield Weston bought The Ryvita Company which was the start of a close family involvement that still continues today. Ryvita became part of Garfield’s then company Associated British Foods.
Due to war time paper rationing there was little advertising until the 1950’s. It was in this decade that Ryvita’s ads became truly iconic, starting with Dior’s ‘New Look’ which virtually turned RYVITA® into a fashion accessory.
Ryvita was photographed on the summit of Mount Everest as a thank you for providing the daily bread for intrepid explorers.
The original bakery expanded in 1971 and again in 1974, making it the largest single span building in Europe at that time.
In 1975, the range was broadened beyond the ‘Original’ with the introduction of a brown, ‘Swedish-style’ product.
Spring 1998 saw a total departure from the savoury varieties to a ‘Sweeter Ryvita ... Currant Crunch’. This contained currants, and was sprinkled with honey, sugar, oats and wheat flour (known as Fruit Crunch today!)
We launched our delicious flatbread range, Ryvita Thins.
We launched our brand new Rye Cakes made from popped wholegrain Rye.