Bulmer's
Bulmer's Cider was founded in 1887 in Hereford, England by Percy Bulmer, the 20 year old son of a local clergyman, taking his mother's advice to make a career in food or drink 'because neither ever go out of fashion.'
Using apples from the orchard at his father's rectory and an old stone press on the farm next door, young Percy made the first drop of cider upon which the family fortune would be made. Today HP Bulmer makes 65% of the five million hectolitres of cider sold annually in the UK and the bulk of the exports.
His elder brother, Fred, coming down from Kings College, Cambridge, turned down the offer of a post as tutor to the children of the King of Siam, to join Percy in his fledgling cider business. A lady called Anna got the job instead and hence that wonderful musical film, The King and I, based on a true story.
Meanwhile the brothers, with a £1000 loan from their father, bought an 8 acre (32,000 m²) field just outside the City walls and built their first cider mill. It was little more than a shack compared to the huge modern, stainless steel, computer controlled cider making plant that has grown up on a 75 acre (300,000 m²) site nearby.
Cider making in those early days was a hit or miss affair, the fermentation being achieved by the wild yeast in the apple, and more often than not, the cider turned sour.It was a college friend of Fred's, Dr Herbert Durham, who, in the 1890's, isolated the wild yeast to create the first pure cider yeast culture which would ensure all future fermentations were consistent. It was the start of commercial cider making.
Bulmers was first granted the Royal Warrant in 1911 and continues proudly today as Cider Maker to her Majesty, the Queen.
The company was independent until 2003, when - having run into financial problems - it was taken over by brewing giant Scottish and Newcastle. Its Australia and New Zealand business, meanwhile, was sold to Australian brewer Fosters.
"Bulmers" is also a brand name for a cider in Ireland.
Commercial cider production was started in Clonmel, Eire in 1935, by local man William Magner. Mr Magner quickly established a very successful business and in 1937 he joined forces with the famous English cider-makers H.P. Bulmer and Company. Dowds Lane in Clonmel was the location of this burgeoning enterprise. In 1949 Mr Magner withdrew from the business and the Bulmers name came to the fore. To prevent confusion, this Clonmel-based cider is exported around the world under the brand name "Magners".
In 1964 the company name was changed to Showerings (Ireland) Limited. Soon afterwards the company moved its main processing operations to a new complex at Annerville, three miles from the centre of Clonmel, which was opened in 1965 by the then Taoiseach, the late Sean Lemass T.D.
Today the Irish Bulmers Ltd. is a formidable company by any standards, with a well-deserved reputation for innovative and successful product development and marketing. The company employs more than 470 people and is a substantial part of the economic infrastructure of the community of Clonmel. It is owned by C&C, one of Ireland's biggest drinks companies.
