Maggi

Maggi
Industry Food
Founder Julius Maggi
Headquarters Cham, Zug Switzerland
Key people
 Alain Pedersen
Website maggi.ch

Maggi[pronunciation 1] is an international brand of instant soups, stocks, bouillon cubes, ketchups, sauces, seasonings and instant noodles. Owned by Nestlé since 1947, the original company was founded in Switzerland in 1872 by Julius Maggi.

The brand is known for Maggi noodles, Maggi cube, and Maggi-Würze (seasoning sauce).

Company history

The original company came into existence in 1872 in Switzerland, when Julius Maggi took over his father's mill. He quickly became a pioneer of industrial food production, aiming to improve the nutritional intake of worker families. Maggi was the first to bring protein-rich legume meal to the market, and followed up with a ready-made soup based on legume meal in 1886. In 1897, Julius Maggi founded the company Maggi GmbH in the German town of Singen, where it is still based today.

In 1947, following several changes in ownership and corporate structure, Maggi's holding company merged with the Nestlé company to form Nestlé-Alimentana S.A., currently known in its francophone homebase as Nestlé S.A.

Today, Maggi is known throughout the world for its dry soup, seasoning sauce and instant noodle dishes. In New Zealand, Maggi Onion Soup mix is often combined with reduced cream to create an onion dip for potato chips that has come to be generally accepted as a Kiwi favorite.[1]

Major Products

Noodles

In India and Malaysia, Maggi instant noodles are very popular; Nestle has 39% of the market in Malaysia, where "Maggi" is synonymous with instant noodles;[2] and a 60% share in India where it was the first instant noodle brand.[3] In Malaysia, fried noodles made from maggi noodles are called Maggi goreng.

Maggi noodles have been advertised as 2 minute noodles since 1982. The firm recently introduced new varieties of its noodles, for example 'No MSG', 'Less Salt', and 'No Trans fat' to cater to the health conscious. In mid-2008, New Zealand supermarkets introduced replacement formulations for the beef, oriental, and curry flavours. A new feature is an extra sachet containing dehydrated vegetables. Maggi claims the new range contains 88% less total fat and 86% less saturated fat than the average of top-three (unnamed) 2-minute-noodle competitors. The new Maggi range also has considerably lower fat than its own previous formulation. However, the salt content has been increased by 31 percent.

Criticism

Nestlé has faced criticism of its advertising not adhering to marketing regulations in developed countries, and making misleading claims in developing countries. For example, Nestlé claims "vegetarian" on its noodle-product labelling, even though the production of this line makes use of several animal fats and hydrogenated fats from animal sources (in addition to fats from vegetable sources). The noodle manufacturing line has been technologically developed for sophisticated mixing of animal oils and other animal based by-products for the entire packaging brand. Also, in October 2008 Nestlé mistakenly aired a commercial meant for Bangladeshi television on British TV. The advert made false claims that the noodles would "help to build strong muscles, bone and hair". The British Advertising Standards Authority said that the advert did not abide by the new EU consumer protection legislation, by which advertisers have to provide proof of health claims.[4]

Seasoning sauce

A bottle of Polish Maggi sauce

In China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Pakistan, Mexico, Malaysia, Brunei, German-speaking countries, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Poland and France, "Maggi" is still synonymous with the brand's Maggi-Würze (Maggi seasoning sauce), a dark, soy sauce-type hydrolysed vegetable protein-based condiment sauce. In Spain and Mexico, it is sold under the name Jugo Maggi. [5]

It was introduced in 1886 as a cheap substitute for meat extract. It has since become a well-known part of everyday culinary culture in Switzerland, Austria and especially in Germany. It is also widely used in Poland (known there as "Przyprawa W Plynie") and the Netherlands. Maggi Würze has popularity in Serbia and Macedonia, despite not being officially available in those countries. Maggi is very popular in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia, where Maggi seasoning is used in many soups, stir-fries, marinades and as a dipping/topping sauce. Maggi seasoning is commonly used in Asia as a "soy sauce", imparting a umami [savory] flavor. In Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and Hong Kong, Maggi seasoning sauce is a popular condiment, and the bottles are familiar sights on tables in restaurants and homes.

Cube

The bouillon cube or "Maggi cube", which was another meat substitute product, was introduced in 1908. Because chicken and beef broths are so common in the cuisines of many different countries, the company's products have a large worldwide market.

In West Africa and parts of the Middle East, Maggi cubes are used as part of the local cuisine. In Liberia, they are used as an application to the cut umbilical stump of newborn babies.[6] In Haiti,[7] and throughout Latin America, Maggi products, especially bouillon cubes, are widely sold with some repackaging to reflect local terminology. In the German, Dutch and Danish languages, lovage has come to be known as "Maggi herb" (Ger. Maggikraut, Du. maggikruid or Da. maggiurt), because it tastes similar to Maggi sauce, although lovage is not present in the sauce.

Notes

  1. ↑ Italian pronunciation: [ˈmaːddʒi]; Swizz German: [ˈmadʒi].

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maggi.