Kiwi (shoe polish)

Kiwi is a global brand of shoe polish, originally developed in Australia in 1906 by William Ramsay. Kiwi has grown to be the dominant shoe polish in many countries since it was used by both the British and U.S. Armies in World War I. However it announced its exit from the UK market in 2022. Soon afterwards in 2023 Kiwi announced it will be ending the brand in the US by June 2024, sunsetting certain products before the 2023 year even ended.

In November 2023 an email confirming that kiwi shoe polish has been discontinued was published other kiwi products such as shoe deodorant continue to be made available.

As of 2025 the Kiwi brand is owned by S. C. Johnson.

History

The polish was originally made by an Australian company, which first marketed the product in 1906.[1] William Ramsay and fellow Scottish expatriate in Australia, Hamilton McKellar, began making boot polish and other products in a small factory in Melbourne in 1904. While a number of older leather preserving products existed, including the Irish brand "Punch", which was first made in 1851, and the German brand, "Erdal", which went on sale in 1901, Kiwi's introduction in 1906 made it the first shoe polish to resemble modern varieties, aimed primarily at inducing shine.

Corporate history

Australian ownership

Over the years, Kiwi has been owned by a variety of corporations. For the first six decades of its existence, it was one of the iterations of an Australian corporation with Kiwi in its name, all based in the state of Victoria, including Kiwi Boot Polish Co. (1913–1916) and Kiwi Polish Co. (1916–1971). The company then joined with Nicholas International Ltd., a Melbourne-based pharmaceutical company producing international brands such as Aspro and Rennie. The new company was renamed Nicholas Kiwi.

Manufacture in the UK

In the UK, Kiwi polish was manufactured for many years at the company's British headquarters in Ealing. That facility manufactured for the UK market and exported the Kiwi brand to much of Europe and the Middle East. In the mid-1970s, as part of a major streamlining, the UK factory was closed, and production was switched to France. The UK operation moved to Yateley becoming, effectively, a sales and marketing office, with distribution contracted to a third party.

In 1980, production for the UK market moved back to the UK, and was housed in a factory near Huddersfield. The UK head office was relocated to Maidstone, in Kent, where Kiwi had other product interests. Following a global merger with Nicholas Laboratories, the UK head office was again relocated to Slough, at the Nicholas building on the Bath Road.

Sara Lee (1984–2011)

In 1984, it was acquired by American-based Consolidated Foods Corporation (now Sara Lee Corporation), who eventually sold the Nicholas pharmaceutical products to Roche of Switzerland but kept the Kiwi range.

In 1991, a subsidiary of the Sara Lee Corporation (Sara Lee) acquired part of the shoe care business of Reckitt & Colman, including the Cherry Blossom and Meltonian brands. Sara Lee already owned the Kiwi brand, among others.[7] The U.S. Federal Trade Commission ruled that Sara Lee had to divest its ownership of these companies in 1994, to prevent it from becoming a monopoly. Since that ruling, Sara Lee has been prevented from acquiring any further assets or firms associated with chemical shoe care products in the United States without prior commission approval.[8] The Competition Commission in the United Kingdom also investigated the potential monopoly of Sara Lee in the shoe care industry.[7]

S. C. Johnson (April 2011–present)

On 4 April 2011, Sara Lee announced that it had completed its sale of its global shoe care business, in a majority of countries, to S. C. Johnson.[10]

currentowner	S. C. Johnson & Son
introduced	1906 Australia
previousowners	Sara Lee Corporation
website	kiwicare.com

History

Corporate history

Australian ownership

Manufacture in the UK

Sara Lee (1984–2011)

S. C. Johnson (April 2011–present)

See also

External links

References

History

Corporate history

Australian ownership

Manufacture in the UK

Sara Lee (1984–2011)

S. C. Johnson (April 2011–present)

Market share

See also

External links

References