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Portrait 1887 1909 1914 1917 1919 1924 1928 1937 1943 1946 1947 A brand undergoes change: the 100 year history of Maggi seasoning. sig.biz/combibloc 03/03 success, the product was not a great marketing achievement. Imperturbed, Julius Maggi continued to look for a way of producing powdered soup that could be used to cook “fast food”. Finally, in 1886, he added to his range of products the first ready-to-cook soups made of pea and bean flour. These gradually took over from the legume flour. The first brand product in the world In the same year, he launched the legendary Maggi seasoning sauce in its striking brown bottle with a long neck and yellow label. This product became so popular that the herb lovage, which has a similar taste, soon became widely known as “Maggi-Kraut” (Maggi herb). Maggi seasoning is considered to be the first real brand product in the world. The original recipe from 1886 is still kept under lock and key, like that for American Coca-Cola. What is known is that the brown seasoning is made of water, wheat and soya protein, salt, yeast extract and flavourings. However, nobody has yet succeeded in copying the product exactly. This seasoning has held its market position unchallenged for more than 100 years. Some 9,000 tonnes of it are still produced every year. Maggi seasoning was soon followed by stock in capsule or cube form, which went onto the market at the turn of the century. More and more new products with improved formulas and in different forms were developed. In 1893, the factory was complemented with its own farm business, so that a supply of fresh vegetables and other produce was guaranteed. The young entrepreneur proved his farsightedness by extending his company across the borders of Switzerland. As early on as 1887–89, Maggi set up branches in Singen, Berlin, Amsterdam, Bregenz, Vienna, Paris, Milan, Prague, Posen, London and New York. This expansion strategy made a significant contribution towards making Maggi and his products popular all over the world. To acquire the capital he needed for this expansion, in 1889 he transformed the limited partnership company he had set up three years previously into a public limited company called the “Factory for Maggi foods in Kempttal”. Poetic licence Maggi realised early on that capital and good products alone would not guarantee him business success. The retail trade and consumers must be informed about new products and convinced of their quality. At the beginning, Maggi wrote and designed all the advertising himself. But very soon his enormous work load allowed him too little time for this job. For this reason, in 1886, he set up his own “advertising and press office”. The first head of this office, Franz Wedekind, who later became a famous playwright, spiced up the early Maggi advertisements with his own original texts: “Poetry is
1948 1957 1959 1965 1977 1980 Since 1987 the spice of life, humour is the spice of entertainment, just as Maggi’s soups and seasonings are that of every good lunch dish”. The name of “Maggi” is borne out into the world with different advertising media like newspaper advertisements, posters and enamel signs and on countless products. In this way, the red and yellow company colours and the brand logo created by Maggi himself – a four-pointed or crossshaped star – also become well known. The latter was a symbol for Maggi’s own personal motto, roughly translated as “you must bear the cross to reach the stars”. He believed that happiness can only be achieved by overcoming difficulties. Social conscience The social attitudes of the company founder were remarkable for his time. At the end of the nineteenth century, he was already occupied with plans to provide his blue and white collar workers with progressive working conditions. He set up a holiday home for employees and a factory canteen, and also established the company’s own health insurance system. Maggi was also a progressive thinker when it came to working hours. In 1906, he drew up a charter on old-age pensions for employees. In 1907, Maggi was one of the first companies in Switzerland to introduce the free Saturday afternoon – with full pay! In 1911 the first wage scale, bonuses for workers and seniority bonuses for women workers were introduced. Maggi saw his employees as colleagues and explicitly granted them “the right of personality”. From this basis grew a corporate culture the influence of which is still felt today. In 1901, Maggi moved to Paris where he mainly headed the sale of fresh milk at the Société Laitière Maggi, founded in 1903. Julius Maggi died after a stroke on 19 October 1912 in Küsnacht near Zurich. He was 66 years of age. So ended the life of a person with many different interests and a creative spirit, whose achievements as an entrepreneur were extraordinary. Shortly after Maggi left the company, it was changed into a holding company, the Allgemeine Maggi-Gesellschaft. Since 1947, the company, which was subsequently renamed Alimentana AG, has belonged to the Swiss company Nestlé AG in Vevey on Lake Geneva. Quick to make and in hot demand: Maggi instant soups. Portrait 26/27 sig.biz/combibloc 03/03
Page 1 and 2: Issue 03/03 sig.biz/combibloc Marke
Page 3 and 4: Contents 2/3 Contents Page Editoria
Page 5 and 6: Contemporary design The Spanish dai
Page 7 and 8: combiTwist and combifit win the Ame
Page 9 and 10: Small with a big future Children ar
Page 11 and 12: children. In plain terms, this mean
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Page 15 and 16: Anyone who wants to participate or
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Page 21 and 22: Catherine’s Palace: former reside
Page 23 and 24: Dairies subject to massive economic
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Page 31 and 32: Christmas 2002: solidarity of a cul
Page 33 and 34: New life in a former dairy TONI DAI
Page 35 and 36: New seedlings are planted for every

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