Abel Hoadley

Abel Hoadley (September 10, 1844 - May 12, 1918) was the inventor of the popular Australian confectionery bar, the Violet Crumble.

Related Topics:
September 10 - 1844 - May 12 - 1918 - Australia - Violet Crumble

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He was born in Willingdon, Sussex, England, the son of Peter Hoadley (blacksmith) and Elizabeth Ann Wheeler. Hoadley arrived in Australia in 1865. His first business was manufacturing and selling jams and pickles, with produce fresh from his own garden. He opened a jam factory in South Melbourne, Victoria, in 1889, trading as A. Hoadley & Company.

Related Topics:
Sussex - England - Blacksmith - Australia - 1865 - Manufacturing - Jams - Pickle - South Melbourne - Victoria - 1889

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However, he soon began a more lucrative business of manufacturing confectionery (in the Rising Sun Preserving Works in 1895), which was not dependent on seasonal ingredients. When he produced his first chocolate assortment, he packed them with a piece of honeycomb that became so popular that Mr Hoadley decided to produce an individual honeycomb bar. This was not an easy task. As the pieces of honeycomb cooled, they absorbed moisture and started sticking together. This hydroscopic nature of honeycomb led him eventually to dip his bars in chocolate, to keep the honeycomb dry and crunchy. Thus, in 1913, the Violet Crumble bar was created.

Related Topics:
Manufacturing - Confectionery - 1895 - Chocolate - Honeycomb - Hydroscopic - 1913 - Violet Crumble

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Hoadley wanted to call his new bar just Crumble, but learned that it was an unprotectable name. He thought of his wife (Susannah Ann née Barrett) and her favorite flower, the violet, and registered the name Violet Crumble, using a purple wrapper with a small flower logo. It was an instant success.

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Hoadley and Susannah had fourteen children. He died at the age of 73 in his home, "Bella Vista", in the Melbourne suburb of Kew, Victoria. The Hoadley company was acquired by Rowntree in 1970 and then by Nestlé in 1988.

Related Topics:
Melbourne - Kew, Victoria - 1970 - Nestlé - 1988

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