UK toffee company wins production rights from Kraft and plans factory

17 May – A UK family company is planning a new factory after it has won back the rights to the century-old toffee recipe from Kraft Foods, according to the Telegraph. 

The project is being undertaken by Freya Sykes, the granddaughter of Ella Riley, who created the toffee roll recipe for the family business Riley Brothers, founded in 1907. Since 1953, the company has gone through a range of acquisitions and is currently owned by Kraft. However, Kraft had not renewed the intellectual property rights for the Toffee Rolls and Ms Sykes has now secured the rights. 

Sykes says, "Kraft had let the ownership slip and I don’t think they had any intention of using the recipe again, so we acquired ownership for a modest amount. My grandmother handed me down the original hand-written recipe so we are over the moon to be able to bring a little taste of history back to the UK."

The company is now in talks with local authorities over plans for the proposed factory and new outlets are due to open across Yorkshire.
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