Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company was a Swiss manufacturer of evaporated milk founded in 1866 by American brothers

George Ham Page George Ham Page commonly referred to as General Page (May 16, 1836 - April 20, 1899) was an American industrialist who co-founded the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company in 1866, a predecessor of Nestlé. He was primarily active in Switzerland. H ...

and Charles Page. During the 1870s the company steadily expanded into foreign markets which included the

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and the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

. In 1882, the company expanded into the

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, and built the largest factory worldwide in

Dixon, Illinois Dixon is a city and the county seat of Lee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 15,733 as of the 2010 census, down from 15,941 in 2000. The city is named after founder John Dixon, who operated a rope ferry service across the R ...

which was the hometown of the Page brothers. However, the competition was too strong and they sold the factory to Borden in 1902. After the death of George H. Page the company merged with Henri Nestlé company which ultimately became

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...

in 1977.

History

The Page brothers from

, George Ham Page (1836-1899) and Charles Page (1838-1873), initially hailed from a farming background in rural Illinois. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, they got into contact with the manufacturing of evaporated milk in cans. Charles was later engaged as commercial vice consul and traveled Switzerland. It's believed that he got inspired by the cows and the open plains to start a manufacturing plant targeting the European markets.

In 1866, he and his brother, incorporated the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Co. in

Cham, Switzerland Cham is a municipality in the canton of Zug in Switzerland. Location Cham is located on the northern shore of Lake Zug, northwest of the cantonal capital of Zug. Surrounding Cham, Steinhausen is to the east, Hünenberg is to the west, Lake Z ...

with initially 100,000 Swiss Francs in share capital. They were among the first producers of evaporated milk in Europe, which they sold under the brand "Milchmädchen" (English: Milk Girl). In order to produce they imported machinery and manufacturing methods which they took-over from

Gail Borden Gail Borden Jr. (November 9, 1801 – January 11, 1874) was a native New Yorker who settled in Texas in 1829 (then still Mexico), where he worked as a land surveyor, newspaper publisher, and inventor. He created a process in 1853 to make sweet ...

. The success of the Anglo-Swiss attracted countless imitators in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

: by 1872, 25 more milk condensing factories had been set up. The Anglo Swiss reacted with acquisitions and founding new factories: The factories in

Düdingen Düdingen (; french: Guin ; frp, Duens, locally ) is a municipality in the district of Sense in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. It is one of the municipalities with a large majority of German speakers in the mostly French speaking Cant ...

and Gossau and in Middlewich and

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(1874) were just the beginning of a long-term strategy to eliminate competitors through acquisitions. In addition, however, they also built their own factories in Europe, especially since the rising nationalism increasingly created protectionist barriers - around 1874 in Chippenham, England and

Lindau Lindau (german: Lindau (Bodensee), ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major Town#Germany, town and Lindau (island), island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Ge ...

in order not to be able to be cut off from their target markets. From 1882, Anglo Swiss then expanded into the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

by purchasing its first factory in Middletown, New York and around 1889 even built what was then the largest condensed milk factory in the world in the Page brothers' home town of

. Due to heavy competition, they decided to sell the American operations to Borden in 1902. After the death of George Page the way clear for merger negotiations. In 1905, the former competitors merged to form the "Nestlé and Anglo Swiss Condensed Milk Company", which was shortened to

in 1977, now one of the world's largest food companies.

Literature

* Van Orsouw Michael, Stadlin Judith, Imboden Monika; ''George Page, der Milch-Pionier'' (in German)

References

{{Reflist Food and drink companies established in 1866 Dairy products companies of Switzerland Defunct companies of Switzerland Defunct consumer brands Swiss companies established in 1866

History

See also

Literature

References