Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company
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The Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company was a Swiss company founded in 1866 by the Americans George Page and Charles Page , which produced condensed milk .
history
The brothers George Ham Page (1836–1899) and Charles Page (1838–1873) first came into contact with a new form of milk preservation during the American Civil War (1861–1865): condensed milk from tins. Charles Page was later on business in Switzerland as the Vice Consul of Commerce and the many cows gave him the idea of producing condensed milk for Europe.
Together with his brother George, he founded "Anglo Swiss Condensed Milk" in 1866 as a public limited company that was new for the time. The first factory was built in the same year in Cham in the Swiss canton of Zug . This made them the first supplier of condensed milk in Europe and sold it under the “Milchmädchen” brand. The brothers introduced industrial production methods and machines from the USA to Switzerland, which they had taken over from the American inventor Gail Borden, among others
The company met with great demand and was already in the black after the first year. Important bulk buyers included hospitals and children's homes, who valued condensed milk because of its good storability.
The success of Anglo-Swiss called countless imitators in Europe on the scene: By 1872, 25 more milk condenser factories were built. Anglo Swiss reacted with acquisitions and the establishment of new factories: the factories in Düdingen and Gossau in Switzerland (1872) and in Middlewich and Aylesbury in England (1874) were just the beginning of a long-term strategy of eliminating competitors by buying them up.
In addition, however, it also built its own factories in Europe, especially as protectionist barriers were increasingly emerging as a result of the rise of nationalism - for example in Chippenham (GB) and Lindau (DE) around 1874 so that it could not be cut off from its target markets. From 1882 onwards, Anglo Swiss expanded into the USA by purchasing a first factory in Middletown, and around 1889 they even built the largest condensed milk factory in the world at the time in the Page brothers' hometown in Dixon (Illinois) .
However, the main US competitor Borden was too strong - even further factory purchases and foundations could not prevent them from finally ceding this market to Borden again in 1902.
One of Anglo Swiss's constant, stubborn competitors was the company "Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé lk.A" owned by Henri Nestlé . Nestlé mainly produced " baby meal " (a type of milk powder), while Anglo-Swiss produced condensed milk; but both tried unsuccessfully to assert themselves in the other's market.
The idea of a merger was soon on the table - but George Page protested against it all his life. Only after his death in 1899 was the way clear for negotiations. Finally, the two competitors merged in 1905 to "Nestlé and Anglo Swiss Condensed Milk Company", which was shortened to " Nestlé " in 1977 , one of the world's largest food groups today (as of 2013)
George Page had introduced various ideas and impulses to Switzerland, which was just industrializing: in addition to industrial milk processing, systematic milk content measurement, improved hygiene rules for farmers for handling milk, the Jonathan apple variety and the Jersey cattle breed from the USA.
Individual evidence
- ^ Ancestry Records: George Ham Page
- ↑ a b c Van Orsouw Michael, Stadlin Judith, Imboden Monika: George Page. The Milk Pioneer, ISBN 978-3-03823-146-2 , Verlag NZZ, Zurich 2005
- ↑ Condensed milk, history
- ↑ a b Alimentaonline.ch, Manuel Fischer “An American among Swiss farmers”, accessed on January 29, 2013 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ A b Albert Pfiffner: Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Co. In: Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz . September 11, 2008 , accessed January 27, 2013 .
- ↑ Balance sheet: George Page / Nestlé: The Lord of the Can , accessed January 27, 2013
