Fred the Flour Grader (or simply just Fred) is the mascot of Homepride, a brand name that sells products in the UK for 2 companies, Kerry Group for Flour, and Premier Foods for Cooking Sauces.
Fred was created in 1964 by the Geers Gross advertising agency, he began appearing in Television Adverts about Homepride Flour at that time.
In 1965, he was given a catchphrase “Because graded grains make finer flour”. Starting in 1974, Fred was used to also promote Homepride Cooking Sauces.
Fred had his voice first be provided by actor John Le Mesurier, who would do the Homepride adverts until the early 1980s (before his death in 1983). From there, Fred would be voiced by Richard Briers until some time in the 1990s, where he would be replaced by Christopher Timothy. In 2001, Paul Merton took over the role of voicing Fred, until 2004, when Fred stopped appearing in Homepride Television Adverts.
In 2014, after a 10 year absence from Television, Premier Foods brought back the iconic Fred character in a new advert for television, to advertise the 50th anniversary of its range of cooking sauces. In this advert, Fred is portrayed in a costume, without a voice, who takes over being the father of a family.
