OUR UNIQUE HERITAGE
In 1905, Thomas Fentiman, an iron puddler from Cleckheaton, England was approached by a fellow tradesman for a loan. A deal
was struck and a recipe for botanically brewed ginger beer was provided as security. The loan was never repaid so Thomas became the owner
of the unique recipe. Thomas began using the recipe and producing botanically brewed ginger beer which he delivered door-to-door using a
horse and cart for transport. His ginger beer was stored in hand made stone jars known as ‘grey hens’ which were stamped with an image of
Thomas’ pet dog ‘Fearless’ who had won awards for obedience at the famous ‘Crufts’ dog competition. Fentiman’s ginger beer quickly became
very popular and the family business grew, with several production factories being opened in the North East of England.
The world has changed a lot during the years since Thomas Fentiman founded the business and Fentimans have had to adapt to meet the
demands of this world. Changes in the way people shop mean that we don’t deliver door-to-door anymore and instead sell our beverages in
retail outlets, bars and restaurants. We prefer to use motorised transport to make deliveries, rather than horses and carts and the old
stone jars have been replaced by glass bottles. Some things have not changed however. The business is still in the Fentimans family and
is owned by the Great Grandson of Thomas Fentiman and we still make our beverages by the time honoured method of botanically brewing the
finest natural ingredients. Our production processes have been updated through the addition of mild carbonation to replace the carbon
dioxide lost in during pasteurisation, which gives the product a longer life.
