They began making Worcester sauce on August 28, 1837, and the first bottles went on sale the following year. Worcestershire sauce is perhaps Worcester's most famous product. Later, they created the Lea & Perrins brand Worcestershire sauce.
The sauce was an instant success — thanks in no small part to Lea & Perrins’ aggressive and successful marketing strategy, which initially involved bringing bottles of the sauce aboard British ocean liners for passengers to sample with their meals.
The partners filled more bottles, and the taste of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce spread throughout Europe, America and the world. To make the sauce, they let it steep for two years, stirring regularly; then they removed the solids from the mixture and bottled it.
In 1839, Worcestershire sauce was introduced in the USA. It was such a success that the importer, John Duncan of New York, opened a processing plant, imported the ingredients from England, and made it exactly according to the English recipe.
On October 16, 1897, Lea & Perrins moved the manufacture of the sauce from their Broad Street pharmacy to a factory on Midland Road in Worcester, where it is still made today. During World War II, the factory was seized by the British Army and destroyed by a factory fire in 1964
Towards the end of the century, all bottles were given Lea & Perrins’ iconic orange label to set them apart from imitators (the label has changed little since). in 1904, Lea & Perrins received Royal Assent, which the company still holds today.
History of Lea & Perrins
