Arnott's

William Arnot (he later added a t to his surname), was a Scottish emigré, born in the year 1827 in Pathhead, Kircaldy. He emigrated to New South Wales at the age of 20, due to a severe economic downturn and lack of opportunity in his native land. Arnott met his future wife, an Irish lass named Monica Sinclair on his sea journey.

The Arnott's initially moved to the goldfields and did well by baking for the miners and prospectors who thronged to the areas. After Monica's death in 1842, he moved to Newcastle where his small bakery business grew with the expansion of Newcastle as a shipping port, with the shop's bread, meat pies, and biscuits (aka "cookies") being sold beyond the local town and onto the coal ships that called to port.

By 1877 Arnott's was employing 50 people and was a thriving wholesale business.

In 1887 a distributor was appointed to sell the company's biscuits to the capital city of Sydney, which marked a very significant point in the firm's growth.

William Arnott died in the year 1901, and his family business was sustained by his five sons, and in 1906 the boys moved the manufacturing operations to Homebush, the future home of the 2000 Olympic Games.

In 1997 the company was acquired by the USA-based Campbell's Soup Company.

Arnott's most famous products are Tim Tams, Tiny Teddys, Milk Arrowroot, Scotch Finger Biscuits, and Ginger Nuts.

ADAPTED FROM ARNOTT'S CORPORATE MATERIALS