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Bovril, the ‘beef tea’ from Staffordshire

Bovril’s been made in Burton upon Trent for nearly 40 years. It's a food you can drink like a cup of tea or spread like a jam on a piece of toast. Also football supporters in particular might remember Bovril more than most...

Many football fans will remember knocking back the drink out of a Thermos on a cold day out on the terraces. At half-time lots of fans enjoyed a swig or two of the hot ‘beef tea’ to warm themselves up, ready for the players coming back out for the 2nd half of the game.
As a matter of fact though, it stands for more than the filling of a thermos on a cold day and many will remember having the stuff for uses as soup and toast spread as well as a hot drink.

But we all love it or hate it - and you can express your opinion further down this page...

Bo-vril

The name Bovril comes from an unusual word its inventor John Lawson Johnston found in a book. He found 'vril', which means 'an electric fluid', and he combined it with the first two letters of the Latin word for beef 'bos'.

It’s cousin of Marmite (also made here in Staffs if you didn’t know) and was invented in 1886 by a Scotsman who won a contract to supply one million cans of beef to the French army.
But the problem was, Britain didn’t have enough meat to enable him to fill the order, so instead he invented ‘beef tea’, a drink that contained 40% beef stock, thus making his beef go that little bit further!
By 1888 over 3,000 pubs and grocers were serving it.

How it ended up in Staffordshire

It came to Burton upon Trent in 1968 when production was moved from London.
The brand is made by Unilever who also make Birds Eye, Marmite and Wall’s products.
It’s not as popular today as it once was, but over 3 million jars of the stuff are still being consumed every year.

Despite being a beef drink, it was made suitable for vegetarians in recent years when the beef stock was replaced with savoury yeast mix. However this didn’t last long and Bovril went back to its original meaty recipe.

Did You Know?

1. Bovril is stirred into porridge and coffee in Malaysia
2. The first Bovril electric advertising sign was erected in London's Piccadilly Circus in 1909
4. 900 tons of Bovril is consumed around the world in a year

And did you know that old Bovril jars or advertising materials are collectables and can bring in a few quid on on-line auction sites?
Also the Glasgow Rangers football stand was once renamed the 'Bovril Stand' because of the large advert on the roof.

Bovril has fans from as far as Canada and America, where people who can’t get hold of it apparently search for a substitute so they can get a taste of it. It’s very popular in Asia at the moment too.
Maybe someday it will enjoy the same popularity among people in Staffordshire as it has done in the past.

Known for being British, Bovril should also be known as a Staffordshire thing – we’ve been making it here for nearly 40 years.

Bovril web-links

There doesn’t seem to be too many around anymore, but here’s a couple for either end of the love/hate spectrum and one in between too!

'The Bovril Shrine' (www.medianet.ca/bovril/bovril.htm) may lack in some of the facts but the site has lots of little tidbits for fans of the brown liquid. The most impressive section is a look back at old advertising.

For a different slant on the product have a look at one person's quite extreme random rant (for adults only and maybe not for hardcore Bovril fans): www.randomrant.co.uk/members/reviews/otherstuff/bovril.php

If you want to check out what Bovril items other fans are buying, try typing ‘Bovril’ into a search on www.ebay.co.uk where there are usually more than 50 items featured at any one time.

More information on Bovril, supplied by makers Unilever can be found at: www.unilever.co.uk/ourbrands/foods/bovril.asp

last updated: 22/12/2009 at 09:12
created: 29/10/2007

Have Your Say

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR COMMENTS. THIS BOARD IS NOW CLOSED.

Big Gordon
Mine's a pint of the black stuff!!

Serpico Hubbard
Not liking Bovril is a capital offence! I'd give you 10 to life for turning your nose up at a steaming hot cup o' bov!

Magy Yatts
I will be using a Bovril cube to make a lovely stock on Boxing Day!

Who shot J.R. Marrow?
I'm just a rascal,a Bovvy rascal.I'm just a rascal,a Bovvy rascal.

Kelly Moonface
I love it smeared all over a soggy burger!

P. Peck
Keith, I can confirm that there are exactly 24 salts in a Bovril

Keith
how much salt in bovril

D.A.R.Y.L.
As a Bovril aficianado, I'm in the process of designing a website and forum in honour of the beefy tipple. I'll post the address when it's done!!

christopher mcgrane
i am like a lot of people i have tried all of the top supermarkets eg tesco,asda sainsburys ect ect and cannot get any bovril cubes they have beef cubes but they are not the same.

MC Delvin
Bovril is da bomb!!!!!!

Beaker Neil
L Strickland is proper hippy

L. Strickland
stir a spoonful into endive and artichoke soup with your left hand...it's scrummy!

Ate Here
I know what yer mean, Dot!!

Dorothy Wells
I have used Bovril 60 yearscan't manage without it. not cooking for a family now I find the cubes very useful but where have they gone. Needed to put a little beef in it.

EBAPT
Kids and grown ups love it so...the beefy world of Bovril-O!!!

D I Porter
Can not live without Bovril

diane
cant find cubes in manchester any1 know where can get them?

Trumpets!!
after a brief product recall problem, the mighty bov has been back on the shelves of most major retailers for some time now...

jan stephenson
i am distraught, tried as i may i cannot buy bovril anywhere, i have eaten bovril on toast every morning for 10years, i hope more information is available as its whereabouts

George Jones
I love Bovril as my last drink before bedtime but we just can't get it any moreQ!

El
no supermarkets in Halifax have had Bov cubes for about 3 months now...not good enough..my 2and a half year old daughter knows the difference between Bovril and other supermarkets own stock cubes!!

Liz Baker
Get lettuce / beetroot / cucumber - even chicken breast - anything salad related. Cut up into small pieces, cover in malt vinegar and crumble bovril cube all over and mix. Absoutely delicious. For easy crumbling, keep the cubes in your fridge and bash them with a big spoon on each cube face then you can pour the ready crumbled gorgeousness all over your vinegary salad items. Yum yum yum. Grated carrot a speciality.

Carrot Top
reeeeaaaallllyyyyy....??

Bungle
Nobody is discontinuing the bov in any form!!! what is wrong with you people??

Kerr, Ste
I hate bovril! I think my partner Jay is havin an affair with it!! he also leaves bubbles in the sink!

Debra Legg
Please dont discontinue Bovril cubes they are the best flavouring for hot pot and i have just used my last two

Foggy
Jacqueline - yes. I can confirm that the Bov is still also available in cube form.

Pussycat
Josie - Tesco have recently started stocking the big jars again. However, other major retailers are available...

Yellow MR2 Driver
To beef or not to beef...that is the question.

josie
bovril is loved and we havebeen having a cup of it everyday for a number of years, we are now finding it difficult to purchasebovril in 250gram bottlescan anyone help

Jacqueline Whitehead
Please can we still get Bovril ctock cubes at any of the supremarkets?I have looked in the Cambridge area. thank you Jackie.

J. Mioliva
puckaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

G. Ramsey
TOP TIP: pop a teaspoon of it in your spag bol mince for a taste sensation!

Steve Edwards
Bovril on buttered toast-deliciousBovril and Tomato sauce on toast-absolutely wonderful.Don't knock it until you've tried it

Pink Piggy
Lynda - see below re product recall. However, I noticed the big 'uns back in tescos over the weekend!!woop!woop!

Ate Here
How come the small jars are back but not the big 'uns??

Clipper
Mine's a pint of the black stuff!

Bungle
I'm intolerant to almost all foodstuffs....does anyone know if it's ok for me to consume?

Father Ted
Hope it's back in shops by Xmas....just started pickling a cabbage in readiness

Lynda
Grew up drinking Bovril, spreading on buttered bread (much nicer than Marmite!) and eating it in stews gravy etc. Having trouble buying bigger than 125g jar. That was from Booths and my Blackpool "superstore" Tesco doesn't stock it at all. Whats the problem?

Jason Mantle
Me grandad used to tek it wee im in a flask to footy matches...bluuurrgghh!

Martin Hanslist
Anyone know what the chicken one tastes like? Worth a punt? Tesco also do a product called "Beefy" - anyone know if it's on a par with the real mcCoy??

mark bovroyd
Im sure i saw it on the shelves the other day?!? just cant put my finger on it!

Sean Bush
I prefer marmite, on an irish soda farl

Yatesey
Gerrr Orrrf you lot. It tastes like Jeyes Fluid

Nathan "the daddy" Tyler
Im a BEEFY security gaurd and the Bov makes me weak at the knees

Nigel Hard, Staffs
Bovril is the work of satan!Repent ye beefy sinners!!

Ray of Light
Went in tescos yesterday - The Bov is Back!Viva La Bov!!!Only small jars mind...i need two a them just for one mug!

Young Clive
My idea of heaven....a slice of bovril on toast, whilst strumming my spanish guitar

Adele
Can't find it in any of the shops....Should I give up, or should I just keep chasing Bovril?

Lisa, Montevideo
Donde Uruguay, Los Bovillos este grande beveragito!!

Big J Marrow
Brian - you drink Bovril after beer?? what? like a chaser...?

Brian McGrady
18 Sept 2008In Johannesburg the price of Bovril, my favourite drink after beer, has doubled in the last two years. In the recent months the usual excuse, fuel hikes, is no longer valid.What is going on here?

H. Adams
My dog likes Bovril!!!

Madge, Nottingham
Cheapest fake tan around!

andrew teer
i love the bov!

Margaret Yates
There was a recall on jars of the black stuff recently. 10-1 that's why it's out of stock everywhere...

Mart the King Bov Quaffer
There was recently a salmonella scare linked with Bovril and a mass recall, which may explain recent shortages...please god i hope it comes back!!! I can't live without my daily beef injection...

Lorraine F
My daughter has it every morning on toast for breakfast - BUT where has it gone lately? Has Tesco taken it off their shelves? We can't find it anywhere where we live. I like to drink it when I've got a cold or flu and can't face my normal drinks - I put pepper in it and dunk bread in it like soup. I like bovril sandwiches; also with cheese sandwiches or in a lettuce sandwich!

lack of bovril on tesco shelves
Tasco on longer stock bovril I am gutted could you please reasure me that I can still buy the beef extract in other stores on wirral

Rob S
Someone mentioned the "smell of Marmite being made was awful". Isn't it a yeast extract, made from the gunge left after beer has been made? Breweries always stink! But it is a smell well worth asking others to put up with!

dave
I love a Bovril especially with loads of pepper in. MMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Mrs . S. M. Hol;t-Wilson
What is the salt contex in one tea spoon of Bovril in water?

Julie Watson
We live in Canada and cross the country to get Bovril - Check out the English shops in Richmond B.C. They mail order. We love it, bribe family member to bring it to the east coast from BC and England. Spread on toast it is our favourite breakfast. Can't beat it.

cecwood
I use it as an essential beef flavoring in stew, steak and ale pie, etc, and no other (including the Bov-veggie) like Kitchen Bouquet or Gravy Master, that essentially just color things, will do. I also use the US Wyler's concentrated crystals, but for very different flavorings. My local deli went kaput and I'm still trying to find a place in Maryland that carries Bovril. Not even Safeway, which is also in GB.

Canute Rudolph Thomas
I Love it.

coni
Bovril is a fine drink also a lovly sprid on my tost. i love the stuff. I also like oxo cubes,mainly beef oxo.

Adam Harnden
I am crazy about the stuff, but can't get it as I live in Canada. I first tried it in South Africa 9 years ago and it changed the way I look at toast AND hot water:) I can only hope we get it here some day so I can stop pestering my friends to bring it back from where ever they go.

Katmans26@yahoo.co.uk
Yes I love it. And my whole family love it. I've introduced many friends to it and now they love it. What I hate is trying to open the jar after a few uses. Can we have a squeezable bottle instead. Pleeeeeeese.

Rich
I'm with Greg on this. Darryn you're completely wrong, Marmite is the daddy

David Spray
I stopped buying Bovril when it went yeasty and suitable for veggies. Only just discovered that you are using beef again so bought a jar today. Thank you for bringing back a little sanity into a world where idiots shout loudest and so are 'right'

shirley swinnerton
bovril is blooming bootiful

Greg
No Darryn, with respect, marmite has absolutely no need for existence when Bovril can be used instead. Bovril is clearly the winner, and always will be.Long live the Beefy Treat!!

Linda Housron
As non beef eaters it was great to get veg bovril!We are now down to our last 2 jars as i bought loads before it disapeared. Will you not be making the veg variety again.Please Please Please!!!!!

pamela booth
I like it occasionally. I did see on TV the other day that for Valentine'sDay they have made a special one flavoured with Champagne!

Pat Potts
I REMEMBER GOING TO burton on trent in the 1950's and the smell of marmite being made was absolutely awful

D. Wells
I also love Bovril, but am unable to get it in the supermarket at the moment. Can you tell me why?

Roberto
Bovril is a 'must have' every lunch-time

Mrs. W. Thomson
I love bovril. I have it as a bedtime drink instead of a milky nightcap. Can you tell me why I have been unable to get the cubes from supermarkets in the last 8 week ??? Please don't discontinue them.

Darryn Mutch
Marmite is still 100% better an Bovril

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Neighbouring Sites

Related BBC Sites

Staffordshire Foods

Bovril, the ‘beef tea’ from Staffordshire

Bo-vril

How it ended up in Staffordshire

Did You Know?

Bovril web-links

Have Your Say

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