Let’s go back to 1919. A man named Jack Cohen started selling groceries from a market stall in London’s East End. He was a hustler, a dreamer, and a man with a serious love for tea.
On his very first day, he made a profit of £1 from sales of £4. That’s a 25% margin—not bad for a bloke with a barrow. But he needed a name for his growing business.
So, where did “Tesco” come from? Brace yourself. It’s a word sandwich.
The Tea Connection
Jack Cohen was obsessed with tea. He bought a huge shipment from a company called T. E. Stockwell. The supplier’s initials were T.E.S..
Jack loved those initials. He thought they sounded trustworthy. So he took the first three letters: TES.
Now he needed a second half. He didn’t overthink it. He just added the first two letters of his own surname: CO from Cohen.
TES + CO = Tesco. Boom. That’s it. A total accident of branding genius.
