Brooke Bond is a brand of tea owned by Lipton Teas and Infusions, except in India, Nepal, and Indonesia where it is owned by Unilever. Brooke Bond was formerly an independent tea-trading and manufacturing company in the United Kingdom, known for its PG Tips brand and its Brooke Bond tea cards.

History Brooke Bond & Company was founded by Arthur Brooke, who was born at 6 George Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, England, in 1845. In 1869, he opened his first teahouse at 23 Market Street, Manchester. Brooke chose the business name because it was his 'bond' to his customers to provide quality teas, hence Brooke Bond. The firm expanded into wholesale tea sales in the 1870s.

In 1903, Brooke Bond launched Red Label in British India.

In 1908 Brooke Bond set up the Berkshire Printing Company Ltd, based in Reading, as the company's printing division for tea packeting of its products and, notably, the tea cards which they contained. This also expanded from the 1930s to include production of playing cards by high quality lithography."Berkshire Printing Co., Reading: The world of Playing Cards" https://www.wopc.co.uk/uk/berkshire

The company opened a packing factory in Goulston Street, Stepney, London, in 1911.Stepney Borough Guide, 1960, p. 62

Brooke Bond's most famous brand is PG Tips, launched under the name Pre-Gest-Tea in 1930.

By 1957, Brooke Bond was probably the largest tea company in the world, with one third share of both the British and Indian tea markets.

In 1972, Brooke Bond launched Laojee in Sri Lanka.

The company merged with Liebig in 1968, becoming Brooke Bond Liebig, which was acquired by Unilever in 1984. The Brooke Bond name was significantly decreased by Unilever, however, the Brooke Bond tea brand was temporarily reintroduced on sale in 2019 in the UK, for its 150th anniversary, after a 20 year absence.

Gold Crown Foods Ltd was licensed by Unilever to use the Brooke Bond name for the Brooke Bond 'D' and Brooke Bond Choicest brands. Today, the licence for D Tea is held by Typhoo, who used to sell it through their website – it had identical packaging to before without the words 'Brooke Bond', although it is not currently available.

Unilever reached an agreement in November 2021 to sell the majority of its tea business to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners for €4.5 billion. This included the Brooke Bond brand except where Unilever retained its use for tea in India, Nepal, and Indonesia. The sale was completed in July 2022, with the new company named Lipton Teas and Infusions.

In Pakistan, Brooke Bond Supreme is the number-one-selling tea brand and is marketed by Lipton Teas and Infusions as being stronger than its Lipton Yellow Label blend.

In North America Brooke Bond's primary product was Red Rose Tea. Red Rose is still sold by Lipton Teas and Infusions in Canada, and by Redco Foods, a subsidiary of Teekanne, in the United States.

The Brooke Bond factory at Trafford Park near Manchester has produced PG Tips since 1930. Now part of Lipton Teas and Infusions, it also produces Pukka herbal teas.

Brands and origins Brooke Bond Taj Mahal tea leaves are grown in the estates of Upper Assam, Darjeeling and Tripura. They grow on the northern banks of the Brahmaputra river, which floods its banks every monsoon, creating a rich, humid soil. Rain is plentiful in the monsoon season and humidity lasts throughout the year. The soil and weather together give Assam Tea its terroir' – a dark red brew, a strong malty flavor and a deep body.Brooke Bond Red Label is made in tea manufacturing units of Assam, Cooch Behar, Darjeeling and some parts of Meghalaya. The manufacturing process of the tea includes various stages such as withering (leaving the tea leaves to dry), rolling/cutting (through which a complex series of chemical changes known as oxidation is initiated), drying and then grading into sizes.Brooke Bond Taaza is made of high-quality fresh green tea leaves.Brooke Bond Supreme'' is sold in Pakistan, made from Kenyan tea leaves.

Laojee became the number retail tea brand in Sri Lanka.

Cards

From 1954 until 1999, packets of Brooke Bond tea included illustrated cards, usually 50 in a series, which were collected by many children. One of the most famous illustrators of the cards was Charles Tunnicliffe, the internationally acclaimed bird painter. Most of the initial series were wildlife-based, including 'British Wild Animals', 'British Wild Flowers', 'African Wild Life', 'Asian Wild Life', and 'Tropical Birds'. From the late 1960s, they included historical subjects, such as 'British Costume', 'History of the Motor Car', and 'Famous Britons'. The last series in the 1990s concentrated on the Chimps of the TV adverts. Complete sets and albums in good condition are highly sought-after collector's items. The inclusion of these cards in packets of tea ceased in 1999. There were about 85 separate titles issued around the world: 59 series issued in the UK (1954–1999), 17 series in Canada (1959–1974; 7 of these were also issued in the US, 1960–66), 6 series in what was Rhodesia (1962–66), and 3 series in South Africa (1965–67). Many of them have since been reprinted.

Other artists used to illustrate the cards included John Beswick (B26), Ley Kenyon (B27), Angus McBride (B21), E.V. Petts (B07), Francis Pitt (B01), Kenneth Rush (B20), Claire Walton (B26), Richard Ward (B11, B14) and Michael Youens (B19).Complete list of UK sets''' Set Title Year of issue Number of cards in set NoteB01British Birds1954 20B02Wild Flowers – Series 1195550B03Out Into Space195650B04 Bird Portraits195750B05 British Wild Life195850B06 Wild Flowers – Series 2195950B07 Freshwater Fish196050B08 African Wild Life196150B09 Tropical Birds196150B10 Asian Wild Life196250B11 British Butterflies196350B12 Wildlife In Danger196350B13Wild Flowers – Series 3196450B14Butterflies of the World196450B15Wild Birds in Britain196550B16Transport Through the Ages196650B17Trees in Britain196650B18Flags & Emblems of the World196750B19British Costume196750B20History of the Motor Car196850B21Famous People196950B22The Saga of Ships197050B23The Race into Space197150B24Prehistoric Animals197250B25History of Aviation197250B26Adventurers and Explorers197350B27The Sea – Our Other World197450L01Polyfilla Modelling Cards197410no album – large cardsL02Zena Skinner's International Cookery197450no album – large cardsB28Inventors and Inventions197550B29Wonders of Wildlife197650B30Play Better Soccer197640B31Police File197740B32Vanishing Wildlife197840B33Olympic Greats197940B34Woodland Wildlife198040B35Small Wonders198140B36Queen Elizabeth I – Elizabeth II198350B37Features of the World198450B38Incredible Creatures198540wall chart only – no albumB3930 Years of the Chimps – the Chimps Album198612B40Unexplained Mysteries of the World198740B41The Language of Tea198812wall chart only – no albumB42Discovering Our Coast198950B43The Magical World of Disney198925B44A Journey Downstream199025B45Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles: Dimension X Escapade199112B46Olympic Challenge 1992199240B47Natural Neighbours199340B48The Dinosaur Trail199320B4940 Years of cards199448mail order only – not included in boxes of teaB50Creatures of Legend199424B51Going Wild199440B52The Secret Diary of Kevin Tipps199550B53PG Chimps 40th Anniversary of Television Advertising199640B54Pyramid Power199645B55The Wonderful World of Kevin Tipps199730B56International Soccer Stars199820B57Oracle Cards199919 no album; cards were held over a hot cup of tea, the heat revealed a 'prediction'''

|Survey Card |1999 |1 |survey to ask if customers wanted Brooke Bond to keep issuing sets of cards or not''Thank You Card19991Farewell to PG Tips19993

See also Brooke Bond Taj Mahal Tea House Lipton Lipton Teas and Infusions PG Tips

References

External links Brooke Bond Collectables