Henri Nestlé | |
|---|---|
 Henri Nestlé | |
| Born | Heinrich Nestle 10 August 1814 (1814-08-10) |
| Died | 7 July 1890 (1890-07-08) (aged 75) |
| Occupation | Confectioner |
| Known for | Founder ofNestlé |
| Spouse | Anna Clémentine Thérèse Ehemant (m. 1860) |
| Children | Emma Delajoux |
Henri Nestlé (French pronunciation:[ɑ̃ʁinɛsle]; bornHeinrich Nestle,German:[ˈhaɪnrɪçˈnɛstlə]; 10 August 1814 – 7 July 1890) was a German-born Swiss confectioner and the founder ofNestlé, the world's largest food and beverage company.[1]
Heinrich Nestle was born on 10 August 1814 inFrankfurt am Main.[2] He was the eleventh of fourteen children of Johann Ulrich Matthias Nestle and Anna Maria Catharina Ehemann. Nestle's father, by tradition, inherited the business of his father, Johann Ulrich Nestle, and became aglazier in Töngesgasse. The laterLord Mayor ofFrankfurt am Main, Gustav Edmund Nestle, was his brother.[3]
The Nestle family has its roots in westernSwabia, predominantly in boroughs of theBlack Forest such asDornstetten,Freudenstadt, Mindersbach,Nagold, andSulz am Neckar. In theSwabian dialect, "Nestle" is a small bird's nest. The name Nestle also has different variations, including Nästlin, Nästlen, Nestlin, Nestlen, and Niestle.[4]Nestlé withé is a frenchification of the German name, although Switzerland is 67% German-speaking.
The Nestle family tree began with three brothers (thus the three young birds in the nest being fed by their mother on the family coat of arms) from Mindersbach, called Hans, Heinrich, and Samuel Nestlin. The father of these three sons was born circa 1495. Hans, the eldest, was born in 1520 and had a son with the same name, who later became mayor of Nagold. His son Ulrich was abarber and his fifth son was the firstglazier in the family. For over five generations, this profession was passed down from father to son.[5] Additionally, the Nestles provided a number of mayors for the boroughs of Dornstetten, Freudenstadt, Nagold, and Sulz am Neckar.[citation needed]
Before Nestle turned 20 in 1834, he completed a four-yearapprenticeship with J. E. Stein, owner of a Frankfurtpharmacy. At some point between 1834 and 1839 he migrated, for reasons unknown, to Switzerland.[6] At the end of 1839, he was officially authorized inLausanne,Vaud, to perform chemical experiments, make upprescriptions, and sell medicines. During this time, he changed his name to Henri Nestlé in order to adapt better to the new social environment inFrench-speakingVevey, where he eventually settled.
In 1843, Nestlé bought into one of the region's production ofrapeseeds. He also became involved in the production of nut oils (used to fueloil lamps),liqueurs,rum,absinthe, and vinegar. He also began manufacturing and sellingcarbonatedmineral water andlemonade, although during theEuropean food crisis in the 1840s, Nestlé gave up mineral water production. In 1857 he began concentrating ongas lighting andfertilizers.
Though it is not known when Nestlé started working on hisinfant formula project, by 1867, Nestlé had produced a viable powdered milk product.[7] His interest is known to have been spurred by several factors. Although Nestlé and his wife were childless, they were aware of the high death rate among infants. Nestlé would have been aware ofJustus von Liebig's work in developing an infant formula.[2] In addition, fresh milk was not always available in large towns, and women in higher society were starting to view breastfeeding as an unfashionable option.[2]
Nestlé combined cow's milk with grain and sugar to produce a substitute for breast milk.[7] Moreover, he and his friendJean Balthasar Schnetzler, a scientist inhuman nutrition, removed the acid and the starch in wheat flour because they were difficult for babies to digest.[8] Initially called "kindermehl," or "children flour", his product had an advantage over Liebig's "soup for infants" in that it was much easier to prepare, needing only to beboiled prior to feeding, and it soon proved to be a viable option for infants who were unable to breastfeed.[2][7] People quickly recognized the value of the new product, and soonFarine Lactée Henri Nestlé, "Henri Nestlé's Milk Flour" in French, was being sold in much of Europe. By the 1870s,Nestlé's Infant Food, made withmalt, cow's milk, sugar, andwheat flour, was selling in the US for $0.50 a bottle.
Nestlé's milk-condensation process enabled thechocolatierDaniel Peter, of Vevey, to perfect hismilk chocolate formulation in 1875, after seven years of effort, and the two men subsequently formed a partnership which resulted, four years later, in 1879, in the organisation of theNestlé Company, which eventually became one of the largest Europe-based confection industries.
Nestlé and Anna Clémentine Thérèse Ehemant were married in Frankfurt, Germany on 23 May 1860. Nestlé sold his company in 1875 to his business associates and then lived with his family alternately inMontreux andGlion, where they helped people with small loans and publicly contributed towards improving the local infrastructure. In Glion, he moved into a house later known as Villa Nestlé.[9]
Nestlé died in Glion on 7 July 1890.
If Heinrich, like his brother Gustav Edmund, actually went to the Gymnasium in the former Barftisserkloster, he certainly did not stay to the end. Because even before his twentieth birthday in 1834 he had completed a four-year apprenticeship ...
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