Mornflake is a British brand of oat and oat-based breakfast cereals, launched in 1941 in Crewe, Cheshire, by parent company H J Lea Oakes.
History
The Mornflake brand was first launched in 1941 by the Lea family at the height of World War II. The family had an existing oat milling business in the Cheshire village of Swettenham dating back to 1675[1][2][3] and the current managing director, John Lea, is a direct descendant of the original founder.[4][5] H J Lea Oakes, the parent company of Morning Foods, is one of the oldest companies in the UK and is one of Crewe's larger employers alongside Bentley Motors.[6]
Mornflake Oats was the official shirt sponsor of football teams Crewe Alexandra F.C. and Altrincham F.C.[7] The Mornflake logo appeared on Crewe shirts for 20 years from 2005,[8] making it the then longest continual agreement in the EFL,[9] and October 2024 saw the 1,000th game since Mornflake's shirt sponsorship began.[10] In June 2021, Crewe agreed a £500,000 naming rights deal with Mornflake; its Gresty Road ground would be called the "Mornflake Stadium" until at least 2024–25.[11][9] In April 2025, Mornflake extended their ground naming rights sponsorship, while shirt sponsorship was taken over by Whitby Morrison.[12]
Products
The Mornflake product range includes porridge oats,[13][14] oat bran, oatmeal, muesli, granola[15] and other breakfast cereals.
External links
References
- Nigel Howle. Morning Foods: 350 years of a family food business Cheshire Life, Newsquest, 2025-05-12, retrieved 2025-05-27^
- Mornflake CNBC, 2014-11-03, retrieved 2025-05-27^
- Paul Hurley. A-Z of Crewe: Places-People-History Amberley Publishing, 2019, retrieved 2025-05-27^
- The mill of the people: meet the family behind Mornflake Oats www.sainsburysmagazine.co.uk, retrieved 2021-04-17^
- Richard Price, Ethan Saunders. Cereal firm marks 350 years of making breakfasts BBC, 2025-02-10, retrieved 2025-05-27^
- BBC: Business tips from UK's oldest family firms, BBC News (15 January 2014). Retrieved: 13 June 2021.^
- Mornflake Sets New Record As Shirt Sponsor, Crewe Alexandra F.C., (27 February 2019). Retrieved: 13 June 2021.^
- Mornflake Extend Shirt Sponsorship Deal CreweAlex.net, 19 June 2020, retrieved 24 March 2021^
- Bradley Rial. Crewe Alexandra extends with stadium sponsor Mornflake The Stadium Business, 21 December 2023, retrieved 2 July 2024^
- Alex to officially mark Mornflake’s 1,000 game milestone CreweAlex.net, 24 October 2024, retrieved 25 October 2024^
- Crewe Alexandra: Gresty Road is rebranded as Mornflake Stadium BBC Sport, 10 June 2021, retrieved 13 June 2021^
- Mornflake and Whitby Morrison announced as joint Headline Partners Crewe Alexandra F.C., retrieved 14 May 2025^
- Paul Norman. Mornflake Go! high protein porridge review Cycling Weekly, 2016-08-12, retrieved 2025-05-27^
- Oliver Gill, Daniel Woolfson, Hannah Boland. Waitrose pulls Mornflake porridge from its shelves after 50 years The Daily Telegraph, 2023-01-21, retrieved 2025-05-27^
- Xanthe Clay. I tried 22 granolas to find the best value for money – here's my verdict The Daily Telegraph, 2023-01-28, retrieved 2025-05-27^