Article

At Hovis we are proud to mark 125 years of baking this year. Our origins started in 1886 with a miller called Richard “Stoney” Smith. A man before his time, he rightly believed that the wheatgerm was the most nutritionally rich part of the grain, he just couldn’t explain why. Other millers were taking it out of their flour as it easily fermented and ruined the bread. Smith found a way to separate the germ, lightly cook it and add it back it, naming his flour Smith’s Patent Process Germ Flour. It wasn’t the snappiest brand name, so in 1890 a consumer competition was launched to find a new name with Hovis selected as the winner (coming from ‘Hominis Vis’ which means strength of man). Over the years the business flourished with Hovis flour sold to thousands of independent bakers across the country. In the 1950s the company started to acquire its own bakeries, and in 1954 the first wrapped and sliced Hovis loaf was introduced.

Advertising has been a strong part of the Hovis history – even as early as 1892 the brand began placing adverts in leading newspapers, talking about the health benefits of wheatgerm. Hovis was one of the first to advertise on British television in 1956, with the ‘Don’t say brown, say Hovis’ campaign. Hovis launched one of the most famous adverts of all time in 1973 – the classic ‘Boy on the Bike’ directed by Ridley Scott and featuring the unforgettable music from Dvorak Symphony No.9.  Many other well known ads have followed including “Go on lad” in 2008 which follows a boy travelling through some of historical events for the 122 years since Hovis was born.

Hovis ‘Boy on the Bike’

Hovis ‘Go on Lad’ Advert

Through the years Hovis has always stood for goodness in everything we do, through the products we make and our deeds. This spans from our founder Richard "Stoney" Smith trying to improve the nutrition of the nation; launching Best of Both bread to give families healthier options everyday and Hearty Oats bread to help maintain normal cholesterol; to our work with charities such as the British Legion and our links with British farmers to enable us to be the only national major bread brand made from flour milled from 100% British Wheat.* 

* Flour milled from 100% British Wheat only applies to product baked in mainland Great Britain. Exclues products baked in Northern Ireland