Maggi (German: [ˈmaɡi] , Swiss Standard German: ['maddʒi], Italian: [ˈmaddʒi]) is an international brand of seasonings, instant soups, and noodles that originated in Switzerland in the late 19th century. In 1947, the Maggi brand was acquired by the Swiss giant Nestlé.
History
Early history
In 1869, Julius Maggi (1846–1912) took over his father's mill business in Kemptthal, Switzerland. Under his leadership, the business developed into one of the pioneers of industrial food production, with the aim of improving the diet of working-class families through better nutrient supply and faster preparation. In 1882, at a meeting of the Swiss "Common Good Society" (Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft), the doctor and factory inspector Fridolin Schuler spoke about the miserable nutritional situation of the factory workers: women workers no longer had enough time to cook for their families; cold meals or alcohol often replaced warm meals; meals were served in factory canteens and were cheap but not sufficiently nutritious. The consequences were malnutrition, stomach diseases, and high infant mortality. Schuler advocated for diets based on high-protein, easily digestible pulses/legumes. He demanded that such meals should be offered to the economic class in a convenient form for quick preparation and at a low price. The society turned to the Maggi company, among others. Julius Maggi experimented for two years with different methods of mechanical and chemical processing of legumes and different mixtures. The results were presented to the representatives of the Society on 19 November 1884. They approved the results and signed a contract to exclusively recommend Maggi's legumes for a period of three years. Maggi, in turn, guaranteed a fixed price and regular product controls for sales in Switzerland. However, the Society was accused of representing the interests of a private company. The Maggi company, on the other hand, had difficulties challenging other suppliers of soup powder on the market, despite support from the Society. Since 1884, Maggi has been offering flour made from protein-rich legumes, which can be cooked quickly by being roasted beforehand. Maggi was the first to bring such legume meals to the market.
Expansion
In 1885, Maggi brought nine industrially produced types of legume flour onto the market. In 1885, he received the "First Class Diploma" at the Swiss Culinary Art Exhibition in Zurich. In 1886, Maggi produced acid-hydrolyzed vegetable protein product industrially for the first time, producing the new "Maggi seasoning". The product combined with legume meals to make a ready-made soup as competition for the meat extract invented by Justus von Liebig. The first warehouses and branches abroad were founded, including Maggi GmbH in Singen, Germany in 1887. In order to obtain additional capital for the planned further expansion, the company was converted into a public limited company in 1889 with Julius Maggi as general director. In 1908, Maggi brought the bouillon cube onto the market, replacing the bouillon concentrate capsules. Maggi introduced extensive social benefits that were unusual for the time, such as a canteen, workers' housing, company health insurance, widow's and old-age pensions, and no work on Saturdays, introduced in 1906. In a strike at the Singen plant in 1907, Maggi successfully mediated, accused the management of having lost "contact with the workforce" and suggested the establishment of a "workers' committee", an early form of the works council. In 1912, Maggi signed the first collective agreement in the German food industry.
Maggi lived mainly in Paris from 1902 and led the company to great success with new products in France. The sales of pasteurized milk by the "Société laitière Maggi" amounted to 60 million liters in 1912, and the sales of bouillon cubes with the name KUB amounted to 6 million units a month in 1912. Shortly after Julius Maggi's death in 1912, the company was converted into a holding company, the Allgemeine MAGGI-Gesellschaft. In 1933, Maggi opened a new factory for sauce production in Le Blanc-Mesnil (France). In 1940, New Milford in the USA followed as the eleventh and last factory to be founded abroad.
World Wars During World War I, Maggi was mistaken as a German company in France and accused of spying; it had to fight in public media and in court to correct this image. In 1919, the French branch was renamed SISA (Société industrielle des spécialités alimentaires). During World War II, however, the German branch of Maggi allowed itself to be coopted into Nazi politics. In 1938, Maggi Berlin, and in 1940, Maggi Singen were awarded the title of "National Socialist Model Company," after the company had already had it officially certified in 1935 that "all shareholders" as well as "all managing directors, authorized signatories, and authorized representatives were of Aryan descent." This servility of Maggi towards National Socialism is ostensibly explained by the economic interest in doing business with state or municipal institutions. In order to get such orders, Maggi had to have it confirmed again and again that it was an "Aryan company." Maggi received an exclusive supply contract for the Wehrmacht, for which it even produced a special soup. Two-thirds of Maggi production went directly or indirectly to the Wehrmacht during the war years. The company was dependent on foreign labor during these years. The number of forced laborers from Eastern Europe varied between 170 (end of 1943) and 48 (May 1945). After World War II, the German Maggi branch was saved from confiscation and dismantling only due to the intervention of the highest authorities of the Swiss Confederation in Bern and with the support of the Red Cross. The merger with Nestlé in 1947 also served to "de-Germanize" the image of Maggi.
Recent history
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