Rosella (brand)

The Rosella brand was founded in Australia in 1895 as the Rosella Preserving & Manufacturing Co.. Rosella has had a number of owners including a 40-year period where it was owned by Unilever. The current owner is Sabrands Australia which acquired the brand in April 2013.

TJ Press was the founding Managing Director and his partner was HJ MacCracken Carlton, Victoria and they began manufacturing in a Carlton backyard. Shortly after being founded the company moved to Little Collins Street behind the Herald-Sun building and as it grew new,larger premises were sought. Land at Richmond Park near Melbourne High School was found and purchased and a new factory was established there. A new Board was formed under the chairmanship of Mr.F.J.Cato of Moran and Cato, the grocery chain store proprietors which had a large number of retail shops around Australia and acted as the main distributors for the growing range of Rosella products. Thomas James Press took a keen interest in overseas developments in canning and visited many Alaskan (salmon), American (jams and relishes) and English canning factories to find out the latest techniques. Rosella opened an Adelaide canning facility about 1900 and a Sydney canning factory in Alexandria in 1913. The name derived from the first jam that Press and MacCracken made which was Rosella jam from the rosella berries.

Rosella soon gained a reputation for their tomato sauce, which was first produced in 1899 and which has since become one of Australia's best known food brands, although the company also produces soup and tomato chutney. The company grew from its initial staff of six, and by 1963 had over 1000 employees spread across six factories.

In 1963 Rosella was taken over by Unilever, and it remained under their ownership for most of the next four decades. However, in 2002 the company returned to Australian ownership under Stuart Alexander & Co Pty Ltd, who purchased the brand under a deal with Unilever. Under the agreement, Unilever would retain ownership of the Rosella factory for five years, and during that period would continue to produce the Rosella products under contract to Stuart Alexander. Stuart Alexander retained ownership of Rosella until 2006, when the Rosella brand was sold once more.

In December 2012, the then current owner of Rosella, Gourmet Food Holdings (who also owned Waterwheel & Pitango), was placed into receivership. After unsuccessful attempts to sell the company, it was announced in early March 2013, that the company would be closed down, and that the receivers were looking at selling the Rosella brand to a new owner.

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