Amora Maille, also written as Amora-Maille, is a French company and brand that manufactures

condiment A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to impart a specific flavor, to enhance the flavor, or to complement the dish. A table condiment or table sauce is more specifically a condiment that is served separat ...

s. The company is a subsidiary of

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy dri ...

and the leading condiment maker in France. The company operates two major brands, Amora and Maille.

History

Amora Maille was formerly headquartered in

Dijon, France Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlie ...

. In 1999, the company had around 1,000 employees and operated plants in the

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlie ...

Chevigny Chevigny () is a commune in the Jura department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Population See also * Communes of the Jura department The following is a list of the 494 communes of the Jura department of France. The c ...

, Appoigny,

Carvin Carvin () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography An ex-coalmining commune, now a light industrial and farming town, situated some northeast of Lens, completely encircled by the N17 and ...

and Vitrolles. The company also had a sales operation in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

at the time. A mustard museum was located at the Amora Maille plant in Dijon. In 1999, Amora Maille was acquired by the multinational consumer goods company

. Unilever paid $739.3 million for the company, equivalent to 460 million pounds or 716.5 million euros. The company was sold by a division of the French banking group Paribas SA, the Paribas Affaires Industrielles LBO Fund, and several other investors. The acquisition was estimated to increase Unilever's share of the European culinary market from 9% to 12%. In 2008, Amora Maille announced that it was closing three of its plants in Dijon, laying off more than half of their workers, and concentrating their operations in

. The Dijon plant closed in 2009, some production was exported to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, and as of 2018 part of the company's production takes place in Chevigny-Saint-Sauveur.

Products

The company operates two major brands, Amora and Maille. The Amora brand sells mustard, ketchup, bouillon, salad dressing, and seasonings. The Maille brand sells mustard, sauces, olive oil, and vinegar. It's mustard is considered a strong and pungent one, compared to other Dijon mustards.

Controversies

In August 2018,

foodwatch Foodwatch is a European advocacy group that focuses on protecting consumer rights as they pertain to food quality. Was founded in October 2002 in Berlin by former Greenpeace executive director Thilo Bode. the organization is active in Germany, ...

(a European

advocacy group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the develop ...

focused on

consumer rights Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...

), accused Amora of false advertising for its "Mustard Vinaigrette" salad dressing product, which was found to contain only 0.7% mustard and mustard seeds not sourced from Dijon.

References

Food and drink companies of France French brands Mustard brands Unilever brands Brand name condiments Condiment companies Companies based in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté {{condiment-stub