Menier Chocolate
Encyclopedia
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
manufacturing business founded in 1816 as a pharmaceutical
Pharmacology
Pharmacology is the branch of medicine and biology concerned with the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function...
manufacturer in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
at a time when chocolate was used as a medicinal product and was only one part of the overall business.
Controlled and run by the Menier family
Menier family
The Menier family of Noisiel, France, was a prominent family of chocolatiers who began as pharmaceutical manufacturers in Paris in 1816. They would build a highly successful enterprise, expanding to London, England, and New York City, New York, USA. The Menier Chocolate Co. remained in the family...
for more than 150 years, the heads of Menier Chocolate company were:
- Antoine Brutus MenierAntoine Brutus MenierJean-Antoine Brutus Menier was a French entrepreneur and founder of the Menier family of chocolatiers. Born in Germain-de-Bourgeuil, Indre-et-Loire, he was the third child in a family of merchants. In 1811 Antoine Brutus Menier was enrolled in the La Flèche Military Academy where he studied the...
(1795-1853) - founder - Emile-Justin MenierEmile-Justin MenierÉmile-Justin Menier French pharmaceutical manufacturer, chocolatier, and politician, was born in Paris. In 1853, on the death of his father, Antoine, Émile-Justin Menier inherited a large and successful Parisian company that manufactured a range of medicinal powders.His father's company also...
(1826-1881) - sole CEOChief executive officerA chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization... - Gaston Menier (1855-1934) - COOChief operating officerA Chief Operating Officer or Director of Operations can be one of the highest-ranking executives in an organization and comprises part of the "C-Suite"...
- Henri MenierHenri MenierHenri Emile Anatole Menier was a French businessman and adventurer and a member of the Menier family of chocolatiers. Born in Paris, he was the son of Emile-Justin Menier and grandson to Antoine Brutus Menier who founded the Menier Chocolate company...
(1853-1913) - CEO - Hubert Menier (1910-1959) - co chief executive with Antoine
- Antoine Gilles MenierAntoine Gilles MenierAntoine Gilles Florent Menier was a French businessman and municipal politician who was a member of the prominent Menier family of chocolatiers....
(1904-1967) - last CEO
In 1816, Antoine Brutus Menier founded the Menier Hardware Company in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Although not trained as a pharmacist
Pharmacist
Pharmacists are allied health professionals who practice in pharmacy, the field of health sciences focusing on safe and effective medication use...
, he began preparing and selling a variety of powders for medicinal purposes. The business grew rapidly but for the first few years the company's production of chocolate was very limited as its primary usage was as a medicinal powder and for coating of bitter-tasting pills.
Factory at Noisiel
Marne River
The Marne is a river in France, a right tributary of the Seine in the area east and southeast of Paris. It is long. The river gave its name to the départements of Haute-Marne, Marne, Seine-et-Marne, and Val-de-Marne....
at Noisiel
Noisiel
Noisiel is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the eastern suburbs of Paris from the center....
, at the time a small village of less than 200 inhabitants at the outskirts of Paris. Initially used as a grinding works for the production of medicinal powders, a modernization of the Noisiel facility in 1830 made it the first mechanized mass production factory for cocoa powder in France. Following the development of solid chocolate, Menier introduced to the market a block of chocolate wrapped in decorative yellow paper. By 1842, the success of the chocolate business led to another expansion of the Noisiel plant and by 1853 annual chocolate production reached 4,000 tons.
Under the leadership of the founder's son, Emile-Justin Menier, the company concentrated solely on the manufacturing of chocolate products. In 1864 he sold off the pharmaceutical manufacturing part of the business and began a period of expansion that made the Menier Chocolate company the largest chocolate manufacturer in France. Under Emile-Justin Menier, the company purchased cocoa-growing estates in Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
along with sugar beet
Sugar beet
Sugar beet, a cultivated plant of Beta vulgaris, is a plant whose tuber contains a high concentration of sucrose. It is grown commercially for sugar production. Sugar beets and other B...
fields and a sugar refinery at Roye
Roye
Roye is the name or part of the name of several communes in France:* Roye, Haute-Saône, in the Haute-Saône département* Roye, Somme, in the Somme département* Roye-sur-Matz, in the Oise département-People:...
in the Somme
Somme
Somme is a department of France, located in the north of the country and named after the Somme river. It is part of the Picardy region of France....
in France.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and a distribution center in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, in 1872 he initiated a major expansion that saw the construction of the most modern production facilities in the world. Designed by architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Jules Saulnier
Jules Saulnier
Jules Saulnier was a French architect. He is best remembered for his work on the Menier Chocolate Co. buildings in Noisiel, France. Many historians cite his 1872 building as the first true skeleton structure, having its exterior walls requiring only simple infill...
, many historians cite the building as the first true skeleton structure with exterior walls needing only simple infill. The February 1997 issue of the Architectural Review
Architectural Review
The Architectural Review is a monthly international architectural magazine published in London since 1896. Articles cover the built environment which includes landscape, building design, interior design and urbanism as well as theory of these subjects....
called the 1872 iron and brick chocolate factory at Noisiel "one of the iconic buildings of the Industrial Revolution". In 1992, the factory was designated by the government of France as an official Monument historique
Monument historique
A monument historique is a National Heritage Site of France. It also refers to a state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building or a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, or gardens, bridges, and other structures, because of their...
and is on the list to be named a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
.
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
for their employees' children and three decades later, a senior citizens' home for their retired workers. In the 1870s, the Meniers also built the Noisiel town hall where a family member would serve as mayor without interruption from May 11, 1871 to November 8, 1959. At the 1878 World's Fair
Exposition Universelle (1878)
The third Paris World's Fair, called an Exposition Universelle in French, was held from 1 May through to 10 November 1878. It celebrated the recovery of France after the 1870 Franco-Prussian War.-Construction:...
in Paris, the company was awarded seven gold medals plus the Grand Prize for the excellence of their products as well as citations for their modern production methods and the importance the company placed on the well-being of its employees.
Refrigeration
Refrigeration is a process in which work is done to move heat from one location to another. This work is traditionally done by mechanical work, but can also be done by magnetism, laser or other means...
systems and in 1881 a railroad line was built to the Noisiel factory which reduced costs for incoming and outgoing freight and allowed for wider and faster distribution. Externally, Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
chocolate manufacturers were making advancements in product development. They began mass production and promotion of milk chocolate and the new conching
Conche
A conche is a surface scraping mixer and agitator that evenly distributes cocoa butter within chocolate, and may act as a 'polisher' of the particles. It also promotes flavor development through frictional heat and release of volatiles and acids, and oxidation. There are numerous designs of...
process provided a type of chocolate that consumers liked because it would melt in the mouth.
Pioneering advertising strategies
Poster
A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. Typically posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. Posters are designed to be both eye-catching and informative. Posters may be...
s created by Firmin Bouisset
Firmin Bouisset
Etienne Maurice Firmin Bouisset was a French painter, poster artist and printmaker. He was born to a working class family in the town of Moissac in the Tarn-et-Garonne département in southwestern France...
featuring a little girl using a piece of chocolate to write the name Chocolat Menier on a wall or window. The small girl's sweet innocence essayed the sweet chocolate message through her "chocolate graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
". It proved to be a highly successful image and became an internationally recognized symbol. Firmin Bouisset's image of the little girl would be featured on Menier's packaged products as well as on promotional items such as reusable tin ware, creamers, bowls, sugar dishes, plates, canister sets, and even children's exercise books. Original Menier posters and assorted products as well as reproductions are still much in demand today.
As part of its sales strategy, Menier introduced small dark chocolate sticks to be inserted into a piece of bread. To raise their profile and sell more product, on sidewalks in towns and cities all over France, the company set up "chocolate kiosques". Their hexagon shape and peaked roof became the standard for newspaper kiosques. Such was their popularity that for children, the company made plastic model kiosks as toy dispensers filled with tiny chocolate bars.
With their growing international presence, the Menier Chocolate Company exhibited at the 1893 World's Fair
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
where they were billed as the leading chocolate makers in the world. As the business continued to prosper, at the turn of the 20th century, more additions to the Noisiel plant were made including a major building that was one of the first to use reinforced concrete and, because of its appearance, was soon dubbed by locals as the "Cathedral." In addition, the company built Pont Hardi, a 44.5m long concrete bridge, a record at the time, across the Marne River to link the new building to the other plants. (photo)
The decline of a business empire
World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
marked the beginning of the decline of the Menier Chocolate company. While Europe was in turmoil and businesses there suffered greatly, rapid expansion was taking place in neutral Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
where companies were untouched by the ravages of the war and who benefited from the influx of refugees that increased market size and provided the manual labor necessary for expansion. While the war raged on in France for four years, a Swiss company was able to introduce the first chocolates with a filling. By the end of the war, Menier's finances had been weakened while competition and technologies had substantially increased.
Gaston Menier died in 1934 and the onset of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
five years later exacerbated the company's problems to an even much greater extent. Run by Hubert and Antoine Menier, neither had the capacity to deal with the problems. Despite the Menier Chocolate company's strong brand recognition and an effective marketing of children's books
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
utilizing the fable
Fable
A fable is a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized , and that illustrates a moral lesson , which may at the end be expressed explicitly in a pithy maxim.A fable differs from...
s of Jean de La Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine was the most famous French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, and in French regional...
, by the 1950s the industry leader in France was being swamped by its competitors, rapidly losing both market share along with considerable amounts of money. Hubert Menier died in 1959 and Antoine would be the last Menier to run the business. Entering the 1960s, the Menier workforce had dropped to just over 250 from its peak of more than 2,000.
In 1960, the Menier company had no choice but to find a buyer and was merged with the Cacao Barry company and by 1965 the Menier family no longer held an interest in the company. The Menier factory was sold to Group Ufico-Perrier which became part of British confectioners Rowntree Mackintosh
Rowntree's
Rowntree's was a confectionery business based in York, England. It is now a historic brand owned by Nestlé, used to market a range of fruit gums and pastilles formerly owned by Rowntree's. Following a merger with John Mackintosh & Co., the Company became known as Rowntree Mackintosh, was listed on...
in 1971 who in turn was acquired in 1988 by the Swiss food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
and beverage giant, Nestlé S.A.
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
.
In the early 1990s, all production ceased at the Noisiel facility but in 1996, Nestlé France opened its headquarters in the main building while other buildings in the complex are now part of a chocolate museum with tours open to the public. Today, the Menier Chocolate Factory
Menier Chocolate Factory
The Menier Chocolate Factory is an award-winning 180 seat fringe studio theatre, restaurant and gallery. It is located in a former 1870s Menier Chocolate Company factory in Southwark Street, a major street in the London Borough of Southwark, central south London, England. The theatre stages plays...
building on Southwark Street
Southwark Street
Southwark Street is a major street in the London Borough of Southwark, in London England, just south of the River Thames. It runs between Blackfriars Road to the west and Borough High Street to the east. It also connects the access routes for London Bridge, Southwark Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge...
in London is a popular arts complex that incorporates an art gallery, restaurant, and theatre.
See also
- Menier familyMenier familyThe Menier family of Noisiel, France, was a prominent family of chocolatiers who began as pharmaceutical manufacturers in Paris in 1816. They would build a highly successful enterprise, expanding to London, England, and New York City, New York, USA. The Menier Chocolate Co. remained in the family...
- Anticosti IslandAnticosti IslandAnticosti Island is an island at the outlet of the Saint Lawrence River into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, in Quebec, Canada, between 49° and 50° N., and between 61° 40' and 64° 30' W. At in size, it is the 90th largest island in the world and 20th largest island in Canada...
- Port-Menier, QuebecPort-Menier, QuebecPort-Menier, Quebec is a small fishing town located on the western end of Anticosti Island, Quebec, Canada, part of the L'Île-d'Anticosti municipality. The port village was built during the late 19th century by French chocolate maker Henri Menier....
- Château de ChenonceauChâteau de ChenonceauThe Château de Chenonceau is a manor house near the small village of Chenonceaux, in the Indre-et-Loire département of the Loire Valley in France. It was built on the site of an old mill on the River Cher, sometime before its first mention in writing in the 11th century...
- Menier Chocolate FactoryMenier Chocolate FactoryThe Menier Chocolate Factory is an award-winning 180 seat fringe studio theatre, restaurant and gallery. It is located in a former 1870s Menier Chocolate Company factory in Southwark Street, a major street in the London Borough of Southwark, central south London, England. The theatre stages plays...