Francis Showering

Francis Showering
CBE
Francis Showering CBE
Born	10 July 1912; Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England
Died	5 September 1995 (aged 83); Dorset, England
Known for	Founder of Babycham
Spouse	Hilda Foote (m. 1934; died 1981)

Francis Edwin Showering

Showerings, invented Babycham, a light, sparkling perry

, launched in 1953 and originally marketed as "genuine champagne perry". In 1957, it became the first alcoholic product to be advertised on UK television.

Early life

Showering was born in

Showerings, brewed beer and cider

. He was educated at Shepton Mallet grammar school and then studied to become a chemist in Bristol. He married Hilda Foote in 1934. They had no children.

He and his three brothers all worked at Showerings; Francis eventually became managing director.

In the 1940s, the company developed a process to produce perry—a form of cider made from fermented pear juice—and created a low-alcohol sparking drink that was christened Babycham. The new drink was marketed mainly at young women, and sold in small bottles to be served in a

champagne saucer: "the genuine champagne perry sparkling in its own glamorous glass". After disputes with French champagne producers, including a court case in 1978, H P Bulmer Ltd v J Bollinger SA, which held that marketing of a similar sparkling cider was not confusing, the reference to champagne was eventually prohibited by EU rules on protected designation of origin

.

The drink became very popular, with its advertising slogan "I'd love a Babycham" and logo of a small chamois. To serve the burgeoning demand, the company bought pear orchards across the West Midlands, and planted new pear orchards in Somerset. Output in Shepton Mallet reached 108,000 bottles an hour in 1966, and new plants were opened in Ireland and Belgium.

Later career

Showerings became a

Allied Lyons after the acquisition of the Lyons

food and catering business in 1979.

Showering became vice-chairman of Allied Breweries in 1982, after his nephew's sudden death. He failed to buy back Showerings in 1991, and joined with the four sons of Sir Keith Showering to set up Brothers Drinks, with a new drink, Straight 8, a full-strength perry with 8 per cent alcohol.

Later life

He was appointed CBE in 1982.

Death

Showering died in Dorset on 5 September 1995 and was buried in Shepton Mallet. He was survived by his second wife, whom he had married in 1981, a year after the death of his first wife.

References

Anne Pimlott Baker, ‘Showering, Francis Edwin (1912–1995)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 23 December 2013
Derrick-Holden Brown (8 September 1995). "OBITUARY: Francis Showering". The Independent. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
King of Babycham straight back into business, The Independent, 23 October 1993
Prancing to the tune of Babycham, The Telegraph, 18 September 2004