Jacob's

Jacob's is a brand name for several lines of biscuits and crackers in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The brand name is owned by the Jacob Fruitfield Food Group, part of Valeo Foods, which also produces snacks for the Irish market. In the UK, the brand name is used under licence by United Biscuits, part of Pladis.

The originator of the Jacob's brand name was the small biscuit bakery, W & R Jacob, founded in 1851 in Bridge Street, Waterford, Ireland by William Beale Jacob and his brother Robert. It later moved to Bishop Street in Dublin, Ireland, with a factory in Peter's Row. A factory in Liverpool was opened in 1914.

The well-known activist and trade union organizer Rosie Hackett worked for some years as a messenger for Jacob's. At that time the working conditions in the factory were poor. On 22 August 1911 Rosie helped organize the withdrawal of women's labor in Jacob's factory to support their male colleagues who were already on strike. With the women's help, the men secured better working conditions and a pay rise. Two weeks later, at the age of eighteen, Rosie co-founded the Irish Women Worker's Union (IWWU) with Delia Larkin. During the 1913 Lockout Rosie helped mobilize the Jacob's workers to come out in solidarity with other workers, they in turn were locked out by their own employers. In 1914 her Jacob's employers sacked her over her role in the Lockout.

Jacob's Bishop Street premises was one of several prominent Dublin buildings occupied by rebels during the Easter Rising of 1916

In 1922 a separate English company was formed, W & R Jacob (L'pool) Ltd. The two branches separated, with the Dublin branch retaining the W & R Jacob name while the Liverpool branch was renamed Jacob's Bakery Ltd. In the 1970s, W & R Jacob in Dublin merged with Boland's Biscuits to form Irish Biscuits Ltd. and moved to Tallaght, Ireland. The Liverpool factory joined Associated Biscuits in 1960, which was purchased by Nabisco in 1982.

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