Titbits with bite

It is a particular passion of mine; to determine what sauce is most popular out of brown or red.

I can take both in moderation but strictly down to the specific meal on my plate, in the newspaper, polystyrene tray or cardboard carton in my hand. 

If I were to commit to a sauce however then there is no debate. It has to be brown sauce above all. 

The UK brands for brown sauce have become institutions in their own right with the two main ones being HP and Daddies but with many, many more having in their halcyon days surpassed these mainstays in terms of volume sold and popularity. 

Two specific products from a now defunct company in Selby, North Yorkshire warrant a special mention, these being Titbits Sauce and Tiger Sauce.

Their history and heritage actually suggests that they predated the invention of the now dominant HP sauce in the last decade of the 19th Century. 

The status and loyal following of HP has led to the production of a formal written history. 

Its origins in Nottingham in the UK Midlands are a matter of myth and legend with the recipe, concocted by a grocer and said to have been acquired by a vinegar manufacturer in settlement of a business debt. 

Although only likely to have been produced in small quantities in Nottingham it's inventor did have the foresight to register the product as House of Parliament or HP sauce in 1895 but it was not until 1903 that the acquiring company launched it on commercial basis. 

It quickly became established as the brand leader and still enjoys that position today. 

However, any claim that HP may have to being the first brown sauce on the market appears to be in question and Fletchers of Selby had a part to play in the story. 

The Titbits Sauce brand was the invention of a company called Stamp, Bointon, Junior and Co whose business address was based in Harrogate and Southampton. 

In a published share issue document from 1894, therefore one year earlier than the HP registration their principal operation mentioned the two brand names. 

Fletchers acquired the rights to the Titbits brand in 1913 and made it their own. 

The products enjoyed huge commercial success with millions of bottles being sold every year in the domestic market and globally through the expansive trade market of the British Empire. 

In 1947 Fletchers was bought by HP Sauce of Birmingham and although the respected and loyalty inducing products continued to be seen on shop shelves until the 1990's it was always expected that the parent company would protect and promote their own market leader by running down any competition or threat to market share. 

It is a shame that such well known and popular brands do not survive in the harsh trading conditions of the wider world but I can take some comfort in the fact that the ingredients and taste of my favourite sauce, brown sauce will have remained constant over the ensuing 124 years.