Horniman's tea became one of the world's largest tea trading companies by the end of the 19th century. When John Horniman set up a small business at Newport in 1826 he came up with an innovative idea to package tea in individual bags.
At this time tea was sold loose from tea chests and could easily be adulterated, so he started packing the tea in sealed and labeled paper packets with a guaranteed net weight. Apart from keeping the tea leaves fresh and safe, another advantage was that Horniman could use the packet for advertising.
The public reacted favourably and the business went from strength to strengh until Lyons bought the firm in 1918. Initially starting with a single wooden mould Horniman produced a crude but effective jig that enabled him to produce packet tea in far larger quantities for distribution across the country.
