{
    "id": 1073227,
    "title": "United Biscuits and pladis: the company behind McVitie's, Jacob's and Carr's, from 1948 to today",
    "slug": "united-biscuits",
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    "url": "https://crackers.biz/wiki/united-biscuits/",
    "modified": "2026-09-26T16:40:41+01:00",
    "excerpt": "United Biscuits explained: the 1948 McVitie's and Macfarlane Lang merger, the brands it bought, Keebler and Jacob's, Y\u0131ld\u0131z in 2014 and pladis today.",
    "content_text": "United Biscuits was formed in 1948 by the merger of two Scottish family bakers, McVitie and Price and Macfarlane Lang. It went on to buy Crawford's, Macdonald's, Carr's of Carlisle and, in 2004, the Jacob's biscuit business. Turkey's Y\u0131ld\u0131z Holding bought it in 2014, and since 2016 it has been part of pladis, whose brands include McVitie's, Jacob's, Carr's and \u00dclker.\nThe company behind the biscuits\nLook at the small print on a packet of McVitie's digestives, Jacob's cream crackers or Carr's water biscuits and you will find the same family of companies behind them. For more than seventy years, that family was United Biscuits, one of the biggest names in British baking, and today it is part of a global business called pladis. Here is how United Biscuits was formed, the brands it gathered, the deals that shaped it, and who owns it now.\nTwo Scottish bakers, 1948\nWikipedia says United Biscuits was created in 1948 by a merger of two Scottish family businesses, McVitie and Price and Macfarlane, Lang and Co. McVitie's began in Edinburgh, and its first great biscuit was the digestive of 1892; see McVitie's. Macfarlane Lang was a Glasgow baker, and Wikipedia notes that McVitie's products are still made at a former Macfarlane Lang factory in Glasgow, the Victoria Biscuit Works.\nBuying the great names\nUnited Biscuits grew by buying other famous bakers. Wikipedia lists William Crawford and Sons in 1962, the Edinburgh firm behind the first pink wafers, see Crawford's biscuits; William MacDonald and Sons in 1965; and Carr's of Carlisle in 1972, the maker of table water biscuits, see Carr's.\nIt also looked abroad. In 1974, Wikipedia says, it bought the American Keebler Company for 53 million dollars, and it sold Keebler in 1995 for 500 million dollars.\nJacob's joins the family\nIn 2004 United Biscuits bought the Jacob's Biscuit Group from Danone for \u00a3240 million, bringing Jacob's cream crackers and other savoury brands under the same roof as McVitie's; see Jacob's crackers. Wikipedia lists McVitie's biscuits, Jacob's cream crackers and Twiglets among the brands the company produces; see Twiglets.\nPrivate equity and Y\u0131ld\u0131z\nIn December 2006, Wikipedia says, the Blackstone Group and PAI Partners bought United Biscuits. In November 2014 it was bought by Y\u0131ld\u0131z Holding, the Turkish group that owns \u00dclker, one of Turkey's best known biscuit makers; see Turkish biscuits.\npladis\nIn January 2016, Y\u0131ld\u0131z Holding formed pladis, bringing together United Biscuits, \u00dclker, the chocolatier Godiva and the American DeMet's Candy Company. Wikipedia says the name was inspired by the Pleiades, a group of seven stars visible from anywhere on Earth. pladis is based in London and, on Wikipedia's figures, operates 27 bakeries in 11 countries with more than 17,000 employees, and its brands include McVitie's, Hobnobs, Jaffa Cakes, Jacob's crackers and Carr's water biscuits.\nUnited Biscuits itself still exists as a company within pladis. Wikipedia gives its 2022 revenue as \u00a3857.1 million with 3,948 employees, and its headquarters at Chiswick Business Park in west London. It has factories across Europe and in India.\nWhat happened to United Biscuits?\nPeople often ask whether United Biscuits still exists, or whether they can still buy it. United Biscuits was always a company rather than a biscuit, and it is now part of pladis. Two of its cracker brands are on our shelf: Jacob's cream crackers and Carr's table water crackers.\nFamous biscuits from the family\nMany of Britain's best known biscuits came from companies that became part of United Biscuits. McVitie's digestive recipe dates from 1892, the chocolate digestive from 1925 and Jaffa Cakes from 1927; see digestive biscuits, chocolate digestives and Jaffa Cakes. The Penguin was created by William Macdonald's Glasgow company and launched in 1932, and United Biscuits took over Macdonald in 1965, which is why McVitie's makes Penguins today; see Penguin biscuits. McVitie's launched Hobnobs in 1985; see Hobnobs. Carr's was founded in Carlisle in 1831 by Jonathan Dodgson Carr, and Twiglets, launched by Peek Freans in 1932, are made today by Jacob's in Aintree.\nA United Biscuits timeline\n1948: McVitie and Price and Macfarlane Lang merge to form United Biscuits1962: buys William Crawford and Sons1965: buys William MacDonald and Sons, the maker of the Penguin1972: buys Carr's of Carlisle1974: buys Keebler in the United States, selling it in 19952004: buys the Jacob's Biscuit Group from Danone2006: bought by Blackstone and PAI Partners2014: bought by Y\u0131ld\u0131z Holding of Turkey2016: becomes part of pladis\nJacob's and Club\nThe Jacob's side of the family has its own long history. W. and R. Jacob began as a Waterford bakery, opened a Dublin steam biscuit factory in 1853, and made the first cream crackers around 1885. Its Club Milk biscuit came just before the First World War, and after United Biscuits bought Jacob's in 2004, Club has been sold in the UK under the McVitie's name since 2013; see Club biscuits and the Jacob's story.\npladis beyond biscuits\npladis is bigger than Britain's biscuits. Wikipedia lists Godiva chocolates and the American sweets Flipz and Turtles among its brands alongside McVitie's and \u00dclker, and says its products reach around four billion people in 110 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas.\nWho owns which biscuits\nBritain's biscuit brands now belong to a handful of big groups. pladis has McVitie's, Jacob's and Carr's; Ferrero owns Fox's and Burton's; Mondel\u0113z has Cadbury, Oreo and belVita; and Nestl\u00e9 makes KitKat. For the full map, see who owns Britain's biscuit brands.\nQuick factsFormed1948, McVitie and Price with Macfarlane LangBought Keebler1974, sold 1995Bought Jacob's biscuits2004, from DanoneOwner since 2014Y\u0131ld\u0131z HoldingPart ofpladis, formed in 2016Revenue, 2022\u00a3857.1 million\nQuestions people askWho owns United Biscuits?Turkey's Y\u0131ld\u0131z Holding, which bought it in 2014. Since 2016 it has been part of pladis, Y\u0131ld\u0131z's global biscuit and confectionery business.What does United Biscuits make?Brands including McVitie's biscuits, Jacob's cream crackers, Carr's water biscuits and Twiglets.When was United Biscuits formed?In 1948, by the merger of two Scottish family businesses, McVitie and Price and Macfarlane Lang.What is pladis?A company formed in January 2016 by Y\u0131ld\u0131z Holding, bringing together United Biscuits, \u00dclker, Godiva Chocolatier and DeMet's Candy Company.What does the name pladis mean?Wikipedia says the name was inspired by the Pleiades, a group of seven stars visible from anywhere on Earth.Can you still buy United Biscuits?United Biscuits is a company, not a biscuit, but its brands, such as McVitie's, Jacob's and Carr's, are on every biscuit aisle.\nSourcesUnited Biscuits, WikipediaPladis, WikipediaMcVitie's, Wikipedia",
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