Lefèvre-Utile Biscuit Co.
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The Lefèvre-Utile Biscuit Co. was a baker and cookie maker founded in Nantes, France in 1846 by Jean-Romain Lefèvre. Today it is known as LU and is a part of Kraft Foods.
The name LU comes from Lefèvre and his business partner and wife, Pauline Utile. Their initials were first utilized by Alfons Mucha for an 1897 calendar ad for the Lefèvre-Utile Biscuit Co. That same year the company hired Firmin Bouisset to create a poster ad. Bouisset, already famous for his work for the Menier Chocolate company, created Petit Écolier ("the Little Schoolboy") which incorporated the LU initials. Bouisset's poster was used extensively and the image was embossed on the company's Petit Beurre line of biscuits. Within a few years, the success of the logo resulted in the company becoming known as LU.
The founders' son, Louis Lefèvre-Utile took over the company and eventually it was acquired by Generale Biscuit S.A. which in turn was sold to Groupe Danone in 1986. Although an international brand today, LU products are primarily distributed in Western Europe and as of 2005 represented nearly half of the sales for Danone's biscuits and cereal division.
In November 2007, LU was sold to Kraft Foods.
[edit] References
- Evolution of the LU logo
- LU Biscuits official product website
- Groupe Danone website
