Francis Showering
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Francis Showering | |
|---|---|
| Born | 10 July 1912 Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England |
| Died | 5 September 1995 (aged 83) Dorset, England |
| Known for | Founder of Babycham |
| Spouse |
Hilda Foote
(m. 1934; died 1981) |
Francis Edwin Showering CBE (10 July 1912 – 5 September 1995), was an English brewer. His family company, Showerings, invented Babycham, a light, sparkling perry, launched in 1953 and originally marketed as "genuine champagne perry". In 1957, it became the first alcoholic product to be advertised on UK television.
Showering was born in Shepton Mallet in Somerset, England, where his father was an innkeeper and brewer. The family business, Showerings, brewed beer and cider. He was educated at Shepton Mallet grammar school and then studied to become a chemist in Bristol. He married Hilda Foote in 1934. They had no children.
He and his three brothers all worked at Showerings; Francis eventually became managing director.
Babycham
In the 1940s, the company developed a process to produce perry, a form of cider made from fermented pear juice—and created a low-alcohol sparking drink that was christened Babycham. The new drink was marketed mainly at young women, and sold in small bottles to be served in a champagne saucer: "the genuine champagne perry sparkling in its own glamorous glass". After disputes with French champagne producers, including a court case in 1978, H P Bulmer Ltd v J Bollinger SA, which held that marketing of a similar sparkling cider was not confusing, the reference to champagne was eventually prohibited by EU rules on protected designation of origin.
The drink became very popular, with its advertising slogan "I'd love a Babycham" and logo of a small chamois. To serve the burgeoning demand, the company bought pear orchards across the West Midlands, and planted new pear orchards in Somerset. Output in Shepton Mallet reached 108,000 bottles an hour in 1966, and new plants were opened in Ireland and Belgium.