From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 18, no. 3, December 2003.

The Cowley and Sons Bakery this year celebrated the 110 years of their operation in Tonga.

Cowley bread is a household name in Nuku‘alofa and Tongatapu where the business has been kept in the family, for several generations.

Setting up the first bakery in Nuku’alofa in 1893 was an Englishman, Alfred Cowley, and now four generations later, his great-great-grandson, Alfred Cowley, is managing the Cowley and Sons Bakery today. Alfred took over the running of the business from his father Frank Cowley Jr.

Alfred said that they had recently installed new equipment to modernise their production. “The new stainless steel machine will mix the dough, chop it then weigh and pass it through a proofer that uses ultraviolet rays to kill any germs that may grow in the dough. This makes it more hygenic.”

Rising to the occasion, to mark their 110th year, Cowley Bakery has dropped the price of their ordinary white loaf from $1 to .90 seniti from October until the end of the year.