Typhoo has been bought by Indian company, Apeejay Surrendra Group.

One of the brands that come with the deal is the London Fruit and Herb company. Ironic indeed that something with our nation’s capital in the title should be foreign-owned.

It reminds me of an Irish grocer shop that was, for many years, Irish owned and run. It specialised in all those home-grown Irish products and brands that the average ex-pat Irishman misses when he’s abroad. I imagine it was a little piece of heaven for its customers. One day my then house-mate went there for his weekly dose of home and found himself being served by an Indian. It turned out the owners had sold up and an Indian family had bought the place. When I last knew about it the shop hadn’t changed one bit and the new owners had remained loyal to the needs and requirements of their Irish customers.

Typhoo is Britain’s third largest tea brand behind Tetley and PG Tips. Tetley is also Indian owned - by the Tata group. I wonder if they’ll ever try to market Indian-class spiced tea - chai - in this country? It’s an amazing drink - definitely an acquired taste - and I’ve never tasted it in its proper form outside of India. I actually doubt it can be mass-produced but maybe I’ll be proved wrong.