Over 185 years ago, McVitie’s starts life as a small provision shop on Rose Street in Edinburgh, Scotland.
14 Charlotte Place (later renamed Randolph Place), just west of Charlotte Square in Edinburgh, is the site of the second McVitie’s shop.
Charles Price joins the firm. Over the next 13 years he helps grow the brand into a household name known as McVitie & Price.
Alexander Grant develops the original recipe for the famous McVitie’s Digestives biscuit – that recipe remains our secret to this day.
Increasing trade in the south leads to a new factory opening in Harlesden, North London.
The Jaffa Cake is created. Containing a simple combination of sugar and tangerine oil to form the sealed layer of jam. The cakes are named after the Jaffa oranges which flavour the zesty centre of the cake.
Penguin is first introduced by William McDonald (a biscuit manufacturer in Glasgow), becoming a McVitie’s brand in 1946.
McVitie & Price makes the wedding cake for Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, standing over 2.5m tall. With post-war food rationing still in place, ingredients are sent as wedding presents from overseas. The McVitie & Price ‘official’ cake was consumed at the Royal wedding breakfast.
Prince Philip is given a ‘pop star reception’ when he visits McVitie & Price’s Biscuit Factory in London. The visit takes place on 27 June 1963.
The new cult brand Hobnobs launches. Huge demand for the original leads to the introduction of the milk and dark chocolate varieties in 1987.
The McVitie’s factory at Harlesden, Europe’s largest – celebrates 100 years of baking.
A new sub-brand, Signature, launches under McVitie’s. The range features three types of indulgent biscuits, with the hero being Caramel Chocolate Rounds.
Bringing joy to every bite.
Bringing joy to every bite.
From the beginning, McVitie’s has been dedicated to baking biscuits that bring a little joy to every bite. With over 185 years of heritage behind us, we’re proud to be loved in more than 100 countries around the world.
Robert McVitie.
Robert McVitie.
From an apprentice baker to the heart of our biscuit tins, Robert McVitie’s passion set the wheels in motion. After establishing a ‘provisions’ shop in Edinburgh with his father William, he soon grew famous for being a master craftsman and McVitie’s was on its way to becoming a household name.
100 YEARS OF CHOCOLATE DIGESTIVES
100 YEARS OF CHOCOLATE DIGESTIVES
McVitie’s revolutionised the world of biscuits when it created Chocolate Digestives in 1925, a biscuit that has held the heart of the Nation ever since.
