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Camp Coffee is a brand of coffee and chicory syrup from the United Kingdom. Originally intended as a concentrate that could be diluted to make coffee for drinking, it is now primarily used in baking. It was first produced in 1876 by Paterson & Sons Ltd, in Glasgow.
In 1974, Dennis Jenks merged his business with Paterson to form Paterson Jenks plc. In 1984, Paterson Jenks plc was bought by McCormick & Company. McCormick UK Ltd assimilated Paterson Jenks into the Schwartz brand. Camp is now produced in Paisley, Renfrewshire.
For drinking, Camp is generally mixed with hot water or with warm milk in much the same way as hot chocolate, or added to cold milk and ice to make iced coffee. It is commonly found in the baking aisles of supermarkets because it is also used as an ingredient in coffee cakes and other confectionery.
A similar product is Bushells Coffee & Chicory Essence, from Australia.
Legend has it (mainly due to the picture on the label) that Camp Coffee originated as an instant coffee for military use. The label has the classic theme of the romance of the British Raj. It includes a drawing of a seated Gordon Highlander (supposedly Major General Sir Hector MacDonald) A Colonial Legacy, An Officer and an Icon, The Independent. being served by a Sikh soldier holding a tray with a bottle of essence and jug of hot water. They are in front of a tent, at the apex of which flies a flag bearing the drink's slogan, "Ready Aye Ready". That was also the motto of the 59th Scinde Rifles (Frontier Force) of the British Indian Army. In this context, the Scots word 'aye' has the meaning of 'always' rather than 'yes', and indicates, in the case of the drink, that it is 'always ready' to be made.
The original label, by William Victor Wrigglesworth, depicted a Sikh domestic worker waiting on a seated Scottish soldier. A feature of that label was that the server carried a tray on which there was a bottle of Camp Coffee, which carried the same label showing a bottle of Camp Coffee, regressing to infinity. A later version of the label, introduced in the mid-20th century, removed the tray from the picture (thus removing the infinite bottles Droste effect) which was seen as an attempt to avoid the connotation that the Sikh was a servant, although he still waited while the kilt Scottish soldier sipped his coffee. Since 2006, the Sikh is depicted as a soldier sitting beside the Scottish soldier, with a cup and saucer of his own.
In late 1975, Camp Coffee temporarily became a popular alternative to instant coffee in the UK, after the price of coffee doubled due to shortages caused by heavy frosts in Brazil.
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