Residents are being invited to help shape an exhibition celebrating Chichester's Shippam's brand. The Novium Museum is seeking input from eight residents for the 2025 exhibition, which will show off Shippam's advertising archive and other objects from the museum's collection. Shippam's first factory was a flint building behind East Street, opening in 1892.
It was one of the earliest preservers of meat and fish products, transporting their goods in white porcelain containers, sealed with butter. In 1882 Charles Shippam travelled to Chicago by paddle steamer in order to show the 'New World' how best to preserve meat for shipment. In 1906 the company first packed its meats into sterilised glass jars with airtight metal caps, establishing the Shippam's name with the paste jars that many remember today.
In 1912-13 a new factory was built along East Walls. The factory contained a laboratory for quality control on all ingredients and products which entered and left the factory as well as developing new and innovative techniques. The year 1974 marked the end of an era for Shippam's, as the former family run business was acquired by the William Underwood Company, an American food company best known for its flagship product Underwood Deviled Ham.
In the early 1990s Shippam's was acquired by a succession of companies including Grand Metropolitan in 1995 and Beta Foods in 1997. Beta Foods were in turn taken over by Princes in 2001 who took the decision to close the East Walls factory. In.