Where does Fisherman’s Friend come from?

As you will notice on each package of Fisherman’s Friend, the company was created in 1865. The headquarters is located in Fleetwood in the UK. The logo of a trawler FD 241 Cevic is native to the area. The trawler was built at Lowestoft in 1958 for the Cevic Fishing Company Fleetwood. The trawler sank in the Bay of Biscay after springing a leak in the North Atlantic.

It all began with three scratchy throats…

James Lofthouse, a pharmacist from the small port town of Fleetwood in northwest England, was talking to three deep-sea fishermen one evening in November and they told him about their catch of the day. Or rather they tried to, because all three could hardly say a word. Instead of amusing tales from the high Seas, all he heard was a croak. This gave him an idea …

The next day he presented the three fishermen with a mixture of licorice, eucalyptus and menthol – carefully packed into three small bottles. The fishermen were thrilled – and from then on everyone could actually understand their stories again. And yes, you read that correctly, Fisherman’s Friend was originally liquid – but since not only the throats were rough, but also the sea, they often broke.

But James had another brilliant idea: He thickened the tincture and made handy little lozenges out of it. Fisherman’s Friend in its legendary form was born and a breathtaking success story would begin…

Since 1865, Fisherman’s Friend has been a family business – now in its 5th generation.