Marabou (chocolate)
Marabou is a Swedish chocolate brand, first launched in 1916.[1]
History
The brand was founded by the Norwegian chocolatier Johan Throne Holst (1868–1946) who already had launched the same chocolate recipe in Norway under the name Freia with great success – in the beginning of the 20th century Freia owned over 50% of the Norwegian market.[3] During the first world war the continental European markets were closed, so the company decided to expand to Sweden. In 1916 the brand Marabou was created – as the name Freja was already taken in Sweden, the company decided to name their Swedish branch after the stork in the logo.[4] However, the actual production didn't start until 1919 due to shortages in cocoa supply caused by the war.
Johan's second son, Henning, took over Sweden's first chocolate factory in Sundbyberg, just north of Stockholm in 1918. He was in charge of creating the brands which are still present today; Japp, Daim, Twist, Fortuna and Non Stop. The first Marabou chocolate to be established was milk chocolate (Mjölkchoklad), which was produced using the same recipe as Freia. From the mid-1950s on, Marabou chocolate was caramelized, which significantly changed its taste. Over time the factory Sundbyberg was not sufficient for the growing demand, so in the 1970s the production moved after 60 years in one place to new-built premises in Upplands Väsby, where it remains until today.
At the end of the 1960s, the symbol of Marabou was changed from a stork to the marabou rounded “M”. It was designed by Sigvard Bernadotte.[1] This also marked the beginning of the first commercials starring Yvonne Lombard who created the slogan "Mmm... Marabou!".[1] Marabou chocolate is widely available in Sweden in assorted varieties.
Freia and Marabou later merged, and, in 1993, were purchased by Kraft Foods for 3 billion Norwegian kroner. Marabou chocolate is available in a number of European countries and was until September 2011 sold by IKEA in Australia, Canada, Israel, Poland, Spain, the UK and the US.
Marabou has a royal warrant of appointment from the King of Sweden.
Controversies
Marabou-chocolate contains palm oil sold by Wilmar International. According to Greenpeace, this has a negative effect on the animals and people of the world's rain forests.[5] It is inferred that the future of the Sumatran tiger may be at risk because of the production of palm oil products such as Neste Oil diesel.[6]
See also
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 (se) The history of Marabou, Marabou.se
- ↑ Historien om Marabou (Swedish)
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Greenpeace: Chokladkakan innehåller palmolja Swedish Radio 21.10.2013
- ↑ Marabous choklad kopplad till regnskogsskövling Greenpeace 21.10.2013
External links
Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons
