Lefèvre Utile, better known worldwide by the initials LU, is a French

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

biscuit A biscuit is a flour-based baked and shaped food product. In most countries biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be s ...

s, emblematic of the city of

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

. The brand is now part of US confectionery company

Mondelēz International Mondelez International, Inc. ( ), often styled Mondelēz, is an American multinational confectionery, food, holding and beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual revenue of about $26 billion and operates i ...

since 2012, after splitting of its previous owner

Kraft Foods Inc. Kraft Foods Inc. was a multinational confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate. It marketed many brands in more than 170 countries. 12 of its brands annually earned more than $1 billion worldwide: Cadbury, Jacobs, Kraft, LU, Maxwell Ho ...

, which had acquired it as part of its acquisition from

Groupe Danone A group is a military unit or a military formation that is most often associated with military aviation. Air and aviation groups The terms group and wing differ significantly from one country to another, as well as between different branches o ...

in 2007. The

Petit-Beurre The Petit Beurre, or Véritable Petit Beurre, also known under the initials VPB, is a kind of shortbread from Nantes, that is best known in France in general and especially in Pays de la Loire. It is the Petit Beurre of the LU company, which has ...

biscuit remains the flagship product alongside the Ladyfinger, Champagne, Petit four, Prince de LU, Pim's, Paille d'Or, etc.

History

Lefèvre-Utile was founded in Nantes, in 1846 by Jean-Romain Lefèvre. Originally he sold biscuits from the English factory

Huntley & Palmers Huntley & Palmers is a British company of biscuit makers originally based in Reading, Berkshire. Formed by Joseph Huntley in 1822, the company became one of the world's first global brands (chiefly led by George Palmer who joined in 1841) and r ...

and then he began his own production. The name comes from Lefèvre and his business partner and wife, Pauline-Isabelle Utile. Their initials were first utilized by

Alfons Mucha Alfons Maria Mucha (; 24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939), known internationally as Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech painter, illustrator and graphic artist, living in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, best known for his distinctly stylized and decorat ...

for an 1897

calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a phy ...

ad for the "Lefèvre-Utile Biscuit Co." That same year the company hired Firmin Bouisset to create a

poster A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text ...

ad. Bouisset, already noted for his work for the

Menier Chocolate The Menier Chocolate company (french: Chocolat Menier) is a French chocolate manufacturing business founded in 1816 as a pharmaceutical manufacturer in Paris, at a time when chocolate was used as a medicinal product and was only one part of the ov ...

company, created ''Petit Écolier'' ("the Little Schoolboy") which incorporated the LU initials. Bouisset's poster was used extensively and the image was embossed on the company's Petit Beurre line of biscuits. Within a few years, the success of the logo resulted in the company becoming known as LU. The founder's son, Louis Lefèvre-Utile, took over the company and eventually it was acquired by Générale Biscuit S.A., which in turn was acquired by

in 1986. Although an international brand today, LU products are primarily distributed in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

, and in 2005 represented nearly half of the sales for Danone's biscuits and cereal division. In July 2007, LU was sold to Kraft Foods (now

Mondelez International Mondelez International, Inc. ( ), often styled Mondelēz, is an American multinational confectionery, food, holding and beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual revenue of about $26 billion and operates in ...

Gallery

Image:Petit Beurre LU.JPG, Petit Beurre biscuit, 1886 Image:Alfons Mucha - 1896 - Biscuits Champagne-Lefèvre-Utile.jpg, Advertisement for LU Champagne Biscuits, Alfons Mucha, 1896 File:Alfons Mucha - 1896 - Biscuits Lefèvre-Utile.jpg, Advertisement for ''Biscuits Lefèvre-Utile'', Alfons Mucha, 1897 Image:Musée Nantes - Gammes biscuits LU.JPG, A display of various LU biscuits File:Hippolyte Berteaux - Breton icon.jpg, ''La Bretonne'', painted by Hippolyte Berteaux upon request of Lefèvre-Utile Image:Statue de Chappe à Paris.jpg, A postcard showing a painted sign for LU biscuits in the background of this Paris street scene with a statue of inventor

Claude Chappe Claude Chappe (; 25 December 1763 – 23 January 1805) was a French inventor who in 1792 demonstrated a practical semaphore system that eventually spanned all of France. His system consisted of a series of towers, each within line of sight of ...

, 1908

References

External links

*
Evolution of the LU logo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lefevre-Utile Food and drink companies established in 1846 Food manufacturers of France Nantes Mondelez International brands Biscuit brands 1846 establishments in France Companies based in Pays de la Loire 2007 mergers and acquisitions

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links