The origins of our company date back as far as 1912 when “Ellen Emma Smith” invested several hundred pounds of her own money in a small import company. E.E. Smith & Co Ltd was born! Over the proceeding years, the small company thrived after World War I as it was appointed broker to the “American Army Disposals Board” and its main activity was to sell on the vast reserves of canned and preserved goods which had accumulated in France. There was profit to be made!
After The Great War ended (in the early 1920’s) a Cricket mad gentleman named “Brian Smith” saw the potential of the company and invested part of his fortune in the firm. The organisation was renamed E.E. & Brian Smith Ltd and traded successfully until 1928 when unfortunately, the global downturn led to serious economic headwinds for the company. In order start afresh, E.E. & Brian Smith (1928) Ltd was created and the company faced The Great Depression head on!
E.E. & Brian Smith from here onwards became an importer of Fruit Pulps and Lemon Juice for the Jam industry in the UK and built up a successful business. At its core, it was the relationship between the suppliers and E.E. & Brian Smith that made it strong. Overseas manufacturers wanted to keep in touch with the UK market and not simply deal with a trader whose only interest was to make a profit.
They wanted an agent to be an advisor for the UK, to represent their interests and introduce them to new buyers. Over the following years, the company took on more fruit products including Grapefruit and Orange Juices and continued to prosper even during World War II.
Since 1945, E.E. & Brian Smith strengthened its ties with new suppliers and gone into diverse industries including Pickled Vegetables, Fish products and Food Manufacturing Equipment. As a company, we are proud to have worked with the same family run institutions for nearly 80 years, spanning over 4 generations in some cases!
To this very day, through its long history, E.E. & Brian Smith has not forgotten is core values of stability, reliability and trustworthiness. In working closely with its principles, as a dedicated partner for the UK, it recognises its strength is down to it’s creative, loyal supply base.
Key dates for E.E. & Brian Smith –
- 1912 E.E. Smith and Co Ltd was established.
- 1914 Started importing Anchovies into the UK.
- 1918 Company became appointed broker to the American Army Disposals Board.
- 1928 E.E. & Brian Smith (1928) Ltd was established.
- 1930 Started to import Lemon into the UK.
- 1937 Import Grapefruit and Orange Juices from Israel and USA.
- 1939 Started to import pickled vegetables into the UK.
- 1939 The Ministry of Food introduced a programme of Orange Juice distribution for children. Orange became the biggest fruit juice imported into the UK!
- 1950’s The company started to supply UK Dairies with orange concentrate for re-constituting into juice for door to door deliveries.
- 2002 Kiril Mischeff buys E.E. & Brian Smith (1928) Ltd.