Henderson's Relish: Iconic Sheffield brand hits back over Worcester Museum 'imitation' label in sauce exhibit

Henderson’s Relish bosses have hit back - after being described as ‘imitation’ Worcestershire sauce in an exhibition at Worcester Museum.

The iconic Sheffield brand is famous in the city and sold across the county, has a different recipe to Worcestershire sauce, and is popular among vegetarians and people who cannot eat gluten because it does not contain anchovies or gluten.

Now it has emerged that the Henderson’s name also appears in an exhibit on Worcester sauce at the Worcester museum.

Under a label described as 'Various historic Worcestershire sauce bottles', next to lots of old bottles with labels in foreign languages, a caption states: "All these examples demonstrate the evolution of the distinctive Lea and Perrins bottle and its orange label. The brand was frequently imitated and it may be hard to spot the imitation 'Henderson's Relish' amongst the bottles here."

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A museum spokesman said they were trying to make a point about how other manufacturers imitated L&P’s packaging, to the point that they put a competitor’s bottle in the display to see if anyone would be able to spot it.

He said bottles looked near identical, and L&P were only able to copyright the use of the words ‘Original and Genuine’ and not prevent other from using the apothecary bottle with an orange label.

Henderson's Relish general manager Matt Davies said he was unaware of the exhibit in the Worcester museum. and explained how Henderson’s was very different to Worcestershire sauce, and certainly not an imitation.

He said: “The history books record that Worcester Sauce was created by accident using a base ingredient of anchovies. Today, the good people in Worcester must be assuming that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

“I think, sometimes, big corporations like to think everyone is copying them. But, I'm sorry to disappoint them, Henry Henderson created his own, unique, Henderson's Relish in Sheffield some years later. There's nothing fishy about it!

“I have bottles of Henderson's Relish in my office that are more than 100 years old. These old labels describe Henderson's Relish as a Worcester type sauce. So it's clear that then, like now, Henderson's was aware of its southern competitor. But, Henderson's Relish has different ingredients, and a different taste.

“Sheffield has been the home of Henderson's Relish for more than 135 years, and it's well known, here. We splash it on pies, chips, on everything really! However, further afield, many people discover Henderson's, and us it as an alternative to Worcester Sauce.

“They prefer the taste, or the price! And increasingly, chefs are looking for high quality products such as Henderson's Relish, that have no allergens.

“So our business continues to grow, and Henderson's is now available not just in Sheffield, but in Worcester, and around the world. “