Shoppers have been left "mindblown" after finding out what Asda really stands for. It comes after former ITV News presenter Alastair Stewart posed the question to his 81,000 Twitter followers back in 2021.
The 70-year-old TV legend, who retired last week after almost 50 years on our screens, asked his followers if they knew the answer to the question without looking it up. He penned: "Without Google, do you know what the name Asda derives from?"
Alastair's tweet sparked a lively discussion online, with many left perplexed by the origin of the supermarkets iconic branding. One user replied: "Did not know that! I don't know anything without Google," another joked. "So the answer is no."
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Others were adamant that the name stood for 'Associate Dairies', which prompted Asda's social media team to clear it up. A third Twitter user said: "Wow! How many wrong answers can one post get? ASquith + DAiries. Peter Asquith making contact with Associated Dairies, according to their own website."
To which the official Asda Twitter account responded: "Fabulous answer Stephen! Great to see your knowledge of our history!" The answer the question is certainly an interesting one. ASDA came into existence in 1965 two companies merged together to form a superstore.
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It dates back to the 1920s when the Asquith family, from Yorkshire, ran a butchers in the small market town of Knottingley, thanks to it's success they went on to open a further seven stores. In 1958 the Asquith brothers - Peter and Fred - travelled to the US where they visited a Piggly Wiggly, which is considered to be the world's first self-service supermarket.
Feeling inspired, upon their return to the UK they set work on converting a theatre in Castleford, which was once known as 'The Queens', into a super-store in 1963.
As the business began to grow, Peter and Fred decided to hire a new team to oversee their in-store butchers, which is where Associated Dairies & Farm Stores Ltd came in. Associated Dairies & Farm Stores Ltd was made up of a group local farmers in the West Riding area and hadhad great success themselves after being formed in 1949.
Whilst the Asquith brothers were busy opening their supermarkets in the 50s and 60s, the Associated Dairies team had opened a series of pork butchers along with a branch of Craven Dairies cafes. Peter Asquith reached out to Associated Dairies' Noel Stockdale in 1965, with the proposal of merging their businesses.
Following a successful partnership agreement, the team decided the brand needed a new name and they settled on Asda - as it combined the 'As' of Asquith and the 'Da' of 'Dairies', which is detailed on the supermarket's website.
Shortly after the two companies became one, ASDA became the first food store to start selling General Merchandise in 1966. There are currently over 630 Asda stores across the UK.
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