{{Short description|Brand of brown sauce condiment}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}} {{Infobox brand | name = A.1. Sauce | logo = A1 steaksauce logo.png | logo_size = 80 | image = A1 Steak sauce.jpg | image_size = 250 | caption = | producttype = [[Brown sauce]] | currentowner = [[Premier Foods]] (In North America [[Kraft Heinz]]) | producedby = | country = England | introduced = {{start date and age|1831}} | discontinued = | related = | markets = | previousowners = | trademarkregistrations = | ambassadors = | tagline = | website = {{url|https://www.kraftheinz.com/a1|kraftheinz.com/a1}} | module = <!-- or: misc --> | module1 = <!-- or: misc1 --> | footnotes = }}
'''A.1. Sauce''' (formerly '''A.1. Steak Sauce''' and sometimes stylised as '''A1 Sauce''' in certain markets) is a brand of [[brown sauce]] produced by Brand & co, a subsidiary of [[Premier Foods]] in the [[United Kingdom]] (as "Brand's A.1. Sauce") and in [[North America]] by [[Kraft Heinz]]. Created in London, it was sold from 1831 as a [[condiment]] for "fish, meat, fowl and [[game (hunting)|game]]" dishes in the [[United Kingdom]]. The makers introduced the product to [[Canada]], and later to the [[United States|U.S.]] where it was later marketed as a [[steak sauce]].
== History and ownership == [[File:A1 ad 1906.jpg|thumb|American A.1. Sauce advertisement from 1906]] In 1824, Henderson William Brand, a chef to [[George IV of the United Kingdom|King George IV]] of the United Kingdom, created the original [[brown sauce]] on which A.1. is based.<ref name="morris">{{cite book| last= Morris| first= Evan |year= 2004| title= From Altoids to Zima: the surprising stories behind 125 brand names| publisher= Simon and Schuster |isbn= 978-0-7432-5797-8}}</ref> A popular myth has it that the king declared it "[[wikt:A1#Etymology_1|A.1.]]" and thus, the name was born.<ref name="raichlen">{{cite book| last= Raichlen| first= Steven | year= 2000| title= Barbecue bible: sauces, rubs, and marinades, bastes, butters & glazes| publisher= Workman Publishing | isbn= 978-0-7611-1979-1}}</ref> The term "A.1." originated as an international ship insurance certification by [[Lloyd's Register]] to describe a "first rate" ship.
The sauce went into commercial production under the Brand & Co. label in 1831, marketed as a condiment for "fish, meat and fowl", and continued production under this label after bankruptcy forced ownership of Brand & Co. to be transferred to W. H. Withall in 1850.
The product label proclaims: "Est. 1862."
It was renamed A.1. in 1873, after a trademark dispute between creator Henderson William Brand and Dence & Mason, who had since purchased Brand & Co. from Withall. It continued to be produced by Brand & Co. until the late 1970s at the firm's factory in Vauxhall, London<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Brand_and_Co| title= Brand and Co| website= gracesguide.co.uk| publisher= | date= | access-date= }}</ref> until it fell out of favour within the UK domestic market. A.1. brand in the UK was owned by [[Rank Hovis McDougall|Ranks Hovis McDougall]] for a time and currently owned by Premier Foods.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Search for a trade mark – Intellectual Property Office |url=https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmcase/page/Results/1/UK00000913843 |access-date=2021-01-21 |website=trademarks.ipo.gov.uk |language=en}}</ref> A.1. Sauce was still, as of June 2020, produced in [[England]] and exported to [[Asia]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oki-nanaya: The steak source which is basic in A1 source (A one source) 240 g | Okinawa│ | Rakuten Global Market |url=https://global.rakuten.com/en/store/oki-nanaya/item/wak007/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615114342/https://global.rakuten.com/en/store/oki-nanaya/item/wak007/ |archive-date=15 June 2020 |access-date=15 June 2020}}</ref><ref name="LLA">{{cite web |last= |first= |date=October 6, 2014 |title=A1: A History of Brand & Co |url=http://letslookagain.com/tag/history-of-a1-sauce/ |access-date=17 May 2021 |website=letslookagain.com |publisher=}}</ref>
A.1. was officially registered as a [[trademark]] in the US in 1895, and imported and distributed in the United States by [[Heublein Inc.|G. F. Heublein & Brothers]] in 1906. Beginning in the early 1960s, it was marketed in the US as "A.1. Steak Sauce".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/after-50-years-a1-steak-sauce-ends-exclusive-relationship-with-beef-drops-steak-from-name-and-friends-other-foods-2014-05-15 |title=After 50 Years, A.1. Steak Sauce Ends Exclusive Relationship With Beef, Drops 'Steak' From Name And Friends Other Foods |website= MarketWatch.com |url-status= dead| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141110203259/https://www.marketwatch.com/story/after-50-years-a1-steak-sauce-ends-exclusive-relationship-with-beef-drops-steak-from-name-and-friends-other-foods-2014-05-15| archive-date= 2014-11-10 |date=2014-05-15 |access-date=2021-05-17}}</ref> [[R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company|R. J. Reynolds]]—which merged with Nabisco in 1985 to form [[RJR Nabisco]]—acquired Heublein in 1982. In 1999, [[Kraft Foods]] acquired Nabisco, including the licence for the A.1. brand in North America.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}
In the USA during the 1980s, two new flavors of A.1. were introduced, representing the first expansion of the trademark in North America. These varieties were soon discontinued.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} In 2000, an A.1. line of [[marinade]]s was launched.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} In May 2014, Kraft Foods in [[North America]] announced it was dropping the word "steak" from the A.1. name, reverting to A.1. Sauce to "reflect modern dining habits".<ref>{{cite news |date=2014-05-15 |title=After 50 Years, A.1. Steak Sauce Ends Exclusive Relationship with Beef, Drops 'Steak' from Name and Friends Other Foods |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/50-years-1-steak-sauce-170000156.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129022847/http://finance.yahoo.com/news/50-years-1-steak-sauce-170000156.html |archive-date=29 November 2014 |access-date=2015-03-10 |publisher=[[Yahoo! Finance]] |df=dmy-all}}</ref>
==Ingredients== {{Globalize|date=July 2024|2=US and Canada|section}} A.1. Sauce in the US includes [[tomato purée]], [[raisin]] paste, spirit [[vinegar]], [[corn syrup]], [[salt]], crushed [[orange (fruit)|orange]] [[purée]], dried [[garlic]] and [[onion]]s, [[spice]], [[celery seed]], [[caramel color]], [[potassium sorbate]], and [[xanthan gum]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/2011/06/st-whatsinside-steaksauce/ |title=What's Inside: A.1. Steak Sauce |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |publisher=[[Condé Nast]] |date=June 20, 2011 |volume=19 |issue=7 |access-date=May 17, 2021 |last1=Justo |first1=Patrick Di |archive-date=25 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240725182215/https://www.wired.com/2011/06/st-whatsinside-steaksauce/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The 'Original' A1 recipe exported to the USA dramatically differs from the versions sold in Canada.<ref name= LLA /> A.1. Sauce in Canada includes tomato purée, [[marmalade]], raisins, onions, garlic, [[malt vinegar]], [[sugar]], salt, [[tragacanth]], spices and flavorings.
== Legal action == A.1. in the United States was the subject of a trademark dispute between then-owners RJR Nabisco and [[Arnie Kaye]] of [[Westport, Connecticut]], whose International Deli was producing and selling its own recipe condiment under the name "A.2. Sauce". In 1991, the [[United States District Court for the District of Connecticut|United States District Court for Connecticut]] found in favor of Nabisco.<ref>{{cite web | website = metnews.com | url = http://www.metnews.com/articles/2004/reminiscing111804.htm | title = Reminiscing A1 | access-date = 2008-09-17 | archive-date = 30 September 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184530/http://www.metnews.com/articles/2004/reminiscing111804.htm | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title= ''Nabisco Brands, Inc. v. Kaye''|publisher= 760 F. Supp. 25 (D. Conn. 1991)|url= https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/760/25/1421260/|access-date= |via= justia.com|archive-date= 16 September 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200916082300/https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/760/25/1421260/|url-status= live}}</ref>
== Popular culture == Rock musician and singer [[Meat Loaf]] appeared in a TV commercial for the product, to promote its new slogan: "A.1.—Makes beef sing". In the commercial, the slogan is "Makes Meat Loaf sing", and he sings a very short excerpt from his hit song "[[I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)]]".<ref>{{YouTube|id=nSAa9FgTBSg|title=A.1. Makes Meat Loaf Sing}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Food}} * [[Brown sauce]] * [[List of brand name condiments]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category}} * {{official website}}
{{Kraft Foods Group}} {{Brown sauces}}
[[Category:1831 introductions]] [[Category:Brand name condiments]] [[Category:British cuisine]] [[Category:Brown sauces]] [[Category:Kraft Foods brands]] [[Category:Steak sauces]] [[Category:Premier Foods brands]]