Hovis
1399048
219360396
2008-06-14T21:27:01Z
Olires
6019523
Grammar
[[Image:Hovis on shelf 2006-04-17.jpg|thumb|250px|Hovis bread on the shelf]]
'''Hovis''' is a [[United Kingdom|UK]] [[brand]] of [[flour]] and [[bread]], now owned by [[Premier Foods]].
The word "Hovis" was invented by [[London]] student Herbert Grimes in a national competition set by S. Fitton & Sons Ltd to find a trading name for their bread, which used a [[patent]] flour that was rich in [[wheat germ]]. Grimes coined the word from the [[Latin]] phrase ''hominis vis'' – "the strength of man".
[[Image:stoneygrave.jpg|thumb|left|Grave of Richard "Stoney" Smith in [[Highgate Cemetery]]. The inscription details his discovery of the ''Hovis'' process.]]
The Hovis process was patented on [[6 October]] [[1887]] by Richard "Stoney" Smith (1836-1900), and S. Fitton & Sons Ltd developed the brand, milling the flour and selling it along with Hovis branded baking tins to other bakers. They became Hovis Limited in [[1918]].
After a succession of mergers, Hovis eventually became part of Rank Hovis McDougall in 1962, now the quoted food conglomerate [[RHM]], which also owns the [[Mother's Pride]] and [[Nimble]] bread brands. The bread making division has been known as [[British Bakeries]] since 1955.
The Hovis part of the business still specialises in high wheatgerm wholemeal flour, the bread being baked independently.
In [[1973]], Hovis became lodged in the public imagination through an evocative television advertisement, "Boy on Bike" (a.k.a. "Boy on the Bike" and "Bike Ride"), directed by [[Ridley Scott]] though [[Collett Dickenson Pearce|Collett Dickenson Pearce & Partners]] and featuring the slow movement of [[Antonín Dvořák]]'s [[Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák)|Symphony No. 9]] rearranged for [[brass instrument|brass]]. The ad was filmed on [[Gold Hill, Shaftesbury|Gold Hill]] in [[Shaftesbury]], [[Dorset]]. This advertisement was repeated on British television for a 10-day run in May 2006 to commemorate the firm's 120th anniversary. The boy on the bike, Carl Barlow, then aged 13 became a firefighter in [[East Ham]] in 1979.<ref>Ciar Byrne: [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20060502/ai_n16214536 Ridley Scott's Hovis advert is voted all-time favourite] In: [[The Independent]], 2 May 2006. The ad is up [http://www.hovisbakery.co.uk/about-hovis/boy-on-the-bike-commercial.htm here] and [http://mediacloud.libsyn.com/carltonreid/HovisBikeAd1973.mp4 here].</ref>
A horse born in 1986 was also given the name "Hovis" with the permission of the company for which its owner worked.
==References==
<references/>
==External links==
* [http://www.hovisbakery.co.uk Hovis official website]
* [http://www.britishbakeries.co.uk British Bakeries]
[[Category:Food manufacturers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Premier Foods brands|Hovis]]