“Housewives, it’s never too late to improve!” A few magical drops could save any bland soup or sauce – this is how Maggi promoted his liquid seasoning in the 1930s. To this day it is part of the basic equipment in countless German kitchens like salt and pepper.
It is named after the inventor, the Swiss Julius Maggi, who was born 175 years ago. Maggi is also the forefather of the stock cube and one of the pioneers in industrial food production. “He was a busy entrepreneur,” says Albert Pfiffner, archive manager at the Swiss food giant Nestlé, to which Maggi has been part since 1947.
Not known to many: The namesake was not pronounced as it is today. Julius Maggi was the son of an Italian immigrant, so the double G of his name was actually pronounced as a soft “Maji”. In many countries, the Italian pronunciation of the company name is still used today.
Cheap food for workers
Julius Maggi was born in Frauenfeld not far from Lake Constance in 1846. His father made some prosperity with a mill. When the son took over the company at the age of 23, more and more cheap grain came from abroad in the course of industrialization. Maggi came up with new products. Inspired by a doctor, he wanted to produce inexpensive food for workers and began with flours made from legumes containing protein, so-called legumes.
Bottles with the liquid wort Maggi can be seen in the production of the Nestle company in Singen am Hohentwiel.
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Image: dpa
Maggi was so enthusiastic that he wanted to name a daughter Leguminosa, which his wife was just able to prevent. Fortunately: “The legumes were a flop,” says Pfiffner. Undeterred, Maggi continued. He brought the somewhat more successful soup flours made from peas and beans onto the market. The Swiss National Museum speaks of Maggi’s stormy energy and experimentation.
Maggi made her entrepreneurial breakthrough in 1886 with the liquid wort, a world first. Just one year later, bottling began in a plant in Singen, Germany, not far from Lake Constance, where Maggi wort is still produced today. 240,000 bottles are exported to 21 countries every day. Today there are further plants in China, Poland, Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Mexico.
Inspiration even in art
Statistically, every German household consumes a good half a liter of Maggi wort per year, according to a consumer survey. According to Nestlé Maggi, Saarland is a stronghold with 812 milliliters of consumption per household per year. A ring of meat sausage with four bottles of Maggi instead of candles on it is known as the “Saarland Advent wreath”.
After the successful liquid seasoning, Julius Maggi brought out other products, in 1908 the legendary stock cube as a quick basis for meals of all kinds. Maggi was also a pioneer in marketing. As one of the first entrepreneurs, he set up an advertising department. The later famous poet Frank Wedekind once wrote for Maggi: “Like poetry in life / Maggi’s soup food / Maggi’s food spice never lacks!”
A poster for 125 years of Maggi wort with the respective bottles from the years 1886-2011.
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Image: dpa
The Maggi stock cube inspired the painter Picasso: he immortalized it in 1912 in his work “Paysage aux affiches”. Joseph Beuys used the Maggi bottle in 1972 for his object “I don’t know a weekend”. Maggi designed the bottle with the yellow and red label himself. Little has changed in the design in a good 130 years.
Not even with the recipe, which is being adapted a little today depending on the sales market. The basic ingredients are vegetable protein, water, salt and sugar, as well as flavors and yeast extracts. Many people are reminded of the herb lovage, which, curiously, is now also called Maggi herb. But it is not one of the ingredients.
The exact composition and manufacture are a trade secret. Maggi already kept the recipe in a safe out of fear of industrial espionage. Nestlé has an original document in Maggi’s handwriting. The inventor died in 1912 at the age of 66.
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