Griffin’s celebrates 150 years of baking

Media Release
May 5, 2014

Griffin’s celebrates 150 years of baking

The brand behind many of New Zealand’s most iconic and loved biscuits is celebrating 150 years of loving baking this May.

From humble beginnings as a cocoa and flour miller in 1864, to baking close to one billion biscuits every year including favourites such as Gingernuts, Toffee Pops, Cookie Bear Hundreds and Thousands, Shrewsbury and MallowPuffs, Griffin’s is a true Kiwi success story.

“Griffin’s is part of New Zealand’s DNA,” says Griffin’s general manager of sales and marketing Josette Prince.

“From playing an important role during wartime in the 1940s making army ration biscuits for the troops, through to baking nine of the ten top selling biscuits in the country today, the brand has a special place in the hearts of generations of Kiwis.”

And there’s no denying that New Zealand is a biscuit loving nation. Kiwis chomp their way through nearly 50 million packets of Griffin’s biscuits each year, contributing to the country’s position as the second largest consumer of biscuits in the world per capita, after the UK.

Over the last 150 years Griffin’s has changed the face of biscuit making in New Zealand.

“There have been many firsts like introducing automated ovens that baked biscuits around-the-clock, to replacing bulk tins with packets which revolutionised the way biscuits were sold in the late 1950s,” says Prince.

“Of course, Griffin’s can also lay claim to introducing the original and now iconic Gingernut, which Kiwis eat 203 of every minute!”

As well as enduring favourites, a more recent milestone in Griffin’s 150 year history was the way in which a Facebook petition, spearheaded by an Upper Hutt mum, led to the return of an 80s favourite, Griffin’s Choco-ade.

Today Griffin’s Facebook fanbase of more than 175,000 people plays a big role in the way in which Griffin’s brings products to market. From lobbying for the return of biscuits, submitting ideas for new biscuits and variants to being involved in taste testing during the trial phase – it is a far cry from the early days!

To celebrate its 150 year milestone, Griffin’s is shouting 150 deserving New Zealanders to a birthday prize pack during the month of May. Nominations can be made on Griffin’s Facebook page. In addition, the company is also donating 150 hours of its staff’s time to community projects.

For more information visit www.facebook.com/Griffin’sNZ

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