Zee Media Bureau/Ritu Singh
Is India's favourite instant noodles heading towards a total ban? The favourite comfort food of the Indian middle class is in the midst of a great crisis! But amidst all the hue and cry, let us introduce you to the man who gave his name to Nestle's popular brand, Maggi which has been the centre of a raging controversy over excess lead and MSG content .
A Swiss entrepreneur, Julius Michael Johannes Maggi, who invented pre-cooked sauce and ready-made soups, gave his name to the instant food brand.
Who was Julius Michael Johannes Maggi ?
Julius Maggi was born in 1846 to Michael Maggi, an immigrant from Italy, and his wife Sophie from Switzerland, as the fifth child.
In 1869, Julius took over a hammer mill from his father. Owing to the crisis that the milling industry was facing, he decided to open up new areas of production. Soon, he colloborated with physician Fridolin Schuler who had a concept for improving the nutritional content of meals for the labouring classes by making packaged foods out of milled pulses or legumes. Together they began product development and after two years of experimentation, the first industrially produced leguminous flour was put on the Swiss market in 1884.
But as they had expected, the market breakthrough failed to occur, so Julius went back to the drawing board and created Maggi ready-to-use soups in in 1886, then launched Maggi flavouring later in the year.
Gradually, more and more new products followed between 1887 and 1889. Julius opened subsidiaries in Paris, Berlin, Singen, Vienna, Bregenz and London and a representative office in the US. Subsequently, Maggi became an established brand all over the world.
Food products giant Nestlé acquired the Maggi brand in 1947, and Maggi’s successful formula was also behind the two-minute noodles that were introduced in India in 1983.
Julius Maggi died at the age of 66 following a stroke but his legacy continues to this day.
