Simon van den Bergh (October 26, 1819, in Geffen – April 6, 1907, in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

) was a Dutch businessperson who founded a margarine factory in the Netherlands in 1872. In 1888, the same year his son

Samuel Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...

joined the company, he opened another factory in

Kleve Kleve (; traditional ; ; ; ; ; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Netherlands, Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century onwards, Cleves was capital of a county and lat ...

, the ''Van den Bergh Margarine Works''. By announcing it was for the industrial manufacture of margarine, he was able to circumvent the high tariffs of the German Reich on butter and margarine. The factory introduced the Sanella brand in 1904, made from

almond milk Almond milk is a plant-based milk substitute with a watery texture and nutty flavor manufactured from almonds, although some types or brands are flavored in imitation of cow's milk. It does not contain cholesterol or lactose and is low in saturat ...

. In the summer of 1929 (after the death of Simon van den Bergh) the Jurgens & Prince Margarine Works in Goch and Van den Bergh in Kleve merged to become

Margarine Unie Naamloze Vennootschap Margarine Unie (English: Margarine Union Limited) was a Dutch company formed in 1927 in Oss by the merger of four margarine companies, Antoon Jurgens United, Van den Bergh's, Centra, and Schicht's. Margarine Unie was the do ...

. The newly merged company then combined with English soap manufacturer

Lever Brothers Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by two brothers: William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). They invested in and su ...

to create the modern company

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergh, Simon Van Den 1819 births 1907 deaths Dutch corporate directors Dutch chief executives in the manufacturing industry Dutch Jews Unilever people People in food and agriculture occupations People from Oss 19th-century Dutch businesspeople 20th-century Dutch businesspeople