Brewer gets biggest order in 104 years

Mar 25 2009 By Rob Pattinson, The Journal

Fentimans was founded in the North East in 1905 by businessman, Thomas Fentiman, when he was given a recipe for ginger beer in exchange for an unpaid loan.

He went on to build a very successful business delivering ginger beer door-to-door from the back of wagons.

Fentimans produces its brews, which include Ginger Beer, Brewed Shandy, Victorian Lemonade, Mandarin & Seville Orange Jigger, Dandelion & Burdock and Curiosity Cola, using the same traditional methods as over 100 years ago by combining the finest herbs, natural flavourings, sugar and brewer’s yeast. Waitrose drinks buyer James Hodgson said: "Waitrose has enjoyed a successful 10-year relationship with Fentimans and it’s been great to work with them to find the perfect drink to accompany the Waitrose Indian meal deal.

"With the natural ginger root and traditional brewing techniques, the Ginger Beer is certainly more than a match for any curry."

Passionate about botanical brewing, Eldon Robson, great grandson of Thomas Fentiman, now heads up the company as managing director and master brewer with a mission to continue producing drinks in the time-honoured way.

Using only natural ingredients and a brewing process which takes up to 10 days, they retain all the flavour and goodness from the herbs and natural ginger root.