The Haywards Name Behind the Jar
Haywards is currently owned by Mizkan of Japan, with production associated in sourced references with Mills Hill in Manchester and Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. Before that, the Haywards pickle brand had been held by Premier Foods, which reached an agreement in June 2012 to sell Haywards, along with Sarson’s and Dufrais vinegar. In July 2012, Premier Foods sold its Haywards pickled onion, Sarson’s vinegar and Dufrais vinegar brands to Mizkan for £41 million as part of a streamlining programme. That is the tidy business version, at least. For most shoppers, the important bit is simpler: Haywards remained a familiar name on British pickle shelves, even as the ownership paperwork moved about behind the scenes.
A Victorian Pickle Name, Not a Cabbage Origin Myth
The Haywards brand itself dates from 1868 in the United Kingdom, though the available sourced history does not give us a neat founder, first workshop, or charmingly smoky back-room origin story for this particular red cabbage. That matters, because grocery history is very fond of polishing things until they look more certain than they are. What can be said safely is that Haywards became known as a British pickle brand, especially around pickled onions and mixed pickles, and Sweet Red Cabbage sits naturally within that broader vinegar-preserved cupboard tradition. It is brand heritage rather than a fully documented product birth certificate, which is less romantic but more honest.
Why Pickles Took Hold
British tables have long made room for sharp things in jars. Pickled onions are traditionally eaten with fish and chips and with a ploughman’s lunch, which tells you quite a lot about the national approach to balance: bread, cheese, chips, meat, and then something vinegary to keep everyone awake. Haywards belongs to that world of practical condiments, where a jar can turn leftovers into lunch and make a cold plate feel intentional. Sweet red cabbage has its own slightly different personality, softer and sweeter than a pickled onion, but it performs the same useful job. It cuts through richness, adds colour, and saves dinner from looking too earnest.
The Modern Packet Name and the Old Habit
Modern Haywards jars carry a brand name with a long British shelf presence, even though the company behind it has changed hands. That sort of lineage is common in British groceries. The product on the shelf is familiar, the corporate family tree is knottier, and nobody in the kitchen is especially helped by pretending otherwise. What matters in use is that Haywards still reads as a pickle-cupboard name. For shoppers who grew up with jars of onions, piccalilli, beetroot, cabbage, and mixed pickles appearing at awkwardly regular intervals, the label belongs to a recognisable part of the pantry.
Why It Still Travels Well
For British expats in Canada, Haywards Sweet Red Cabbage can do something oddly specific. It can make a plate of ham, cheese, bread, and crisps feel less like improvisation and more like lunch. It can sit beside sausages when mash needs company. It can appear from the fridge when someone says, “Have we got any pickle?” and everyone knows this includes at least four possible jars. That is the quiet magic of British grocery memory: not grand occasions, but cupboards, Sunday tea, nan’s sideboard, and the dependable jar that turns up again. The Great British Shop keeps that sort of memory within reach, purple cabbage and all.
