Description:

Yeoman has been producing fabulous Instant Mashed Potato for over 70 years.

First launched in the late 1950s, Yeomans Instant Mashed Potato quickly became an established brand within the next ten years. By the time the 1970s came around, the easy preparation of Yeoman instant mash, combined with its taste and texture, meant the company was selling over 200,000,000 serving packs a year!

Yeomans Instant Mash has now been completely re-vitalised with the creation of Mash Pots for the consumer market. The pots come in a variety of flavours, such as Onion, Cream, Beef, and Chicken.

Smash is another well-known brand of Instant Mashed Potato in the United Kingdom. It was launched in the UK in the 1960s by Cadbury, which was primarily a manufacturer of confectionery at the time. Smash was reasonably successful.

However, it was not until 1974 that Smash became popular in the convenience food market after Cadbury launched an advertising campaign featuring the Smash Martians who would watch humans preparing mashed potato the traditional way on television instead of using potato granules, and laugh at them. The adverts of the 1970s and their catchphrase, ‘For Mash get Smash’, were voted television advert of the century.

The brand has since been sold by Cadbury and is now owned by Premier Foods.

Smash continues to be popular in the United Kingdom, selling 140 million servings a year. In recent years, flavoured varieties of Smash have also been made available, including Cheddar & Onion and Buttery.

 

 

 

Key theme(s):

Cookery

More information:

Date 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s
Material(s) Food
Item number MBPO326

Questions to help you remember using this item

  • Do you use Instant Mashed Potato?
  • Do you remember the Smash Martian Advert?

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