Allinson

Allinson is a brand of bread and of flour made by Allied Bakeries being owned by Associated British Foods

History
Dr Thomas Allinson was born in the Hulme district of Manchester in 1858. He trained as a medical doctor in Edinburgh, graduating in 1879. He founded the first Allinson mill in 1892 in Bethnal Green as Dr Allinson's Natural Food Company. It was the first to produce wholemeal/wholegrain flour. His slogan was Health without Medicine. Allinson was viewed as an eccentric because of his advocation of vegetarianism (in particular of wholegrain bread) and opposition to many medical practices of the time. Two more mills were bought in Castleford and Newport in Wales.

The company was joined with six others to form Allied Bakeries by Willard Garfield Weston in 1935.

The company has advertised on TV with Brian Glover declaring it's Bread wi' Nowt Taken Out. It gave the impression that Thomas Allinson would have had a Yorkshire accent, but that would not have been the case.

Production
The company is based in Maidenhead in Berkshire, at the same address as ABF. It only makes wholemeal bread. The brand is worth around £20m. It sells two varieties: Wholemeal and Hi-Bran.

Allinson Flour
Allinson Flour is a separate company making flour and yeast, owned by The Silver Spoon Company based in Peterborough.