ARGENTINA AND LONDON.
THE OXO CUBE CELEBRATED ITS 100 YEARS BIRTHDAY in 2008.
In 1840 concentrated meat extract was invented in London, by a German chemist named Justis von Liebig.
However as it required 30 kilos of beef to make one kilo of extract, with the price of beef in Europe it was a non starter.
In Uruguay at the time, a young railway engineer also with German origins called George Christian Giebert, read about the work of Liebig and wrote to him.
Giebert was given the license to produce the beef extract at Fray Bentos, on the banks of the River Plate in Uruguay.
A company was set up in London in 1865 named the Liebeg Extract of Meat Company, with a share issue of 150,000 pounds to build a purpose designed meat plant..
Prior to this, the cattle in Argentina and Uruguay were slaughtered only for the skins, as there was no refrigeration to transport the beef.
From 800 kilos per month initially, the company was producing 500 tons a month by 1878.
The meat was being thrown out for the making of Tallow until in 1878 the first corned beef was produced. This corned beef which later became known world wide as Fray Bentos Corned Beef.
The staff at each plant was over 5,000 killing 1200 cattle a day on the ground, in teams of 5 men, on a kill floor the size of two football fields.
Each team has to dress 60 cattle a day, split them with a clever and clean up their area when finished.
The beef extract was sold in glass bottles in the same manner as Bovril today, until 1908 when the first Oxo cubes were manufactured.
The Oxo cube was so successful, they sponsored the 1908 Olympic Games in London, with all the athletes given Oxo drinks for energy. The very first sponsored Olympic Games.
The Liebig Extract company was killing 6,000 cattle per week, in Fray Bentos and another 6,000 cattle per week in Entre Rios Argentina, all for Oxo and corned beef..
The beef extract company was taken over the Lord Vestey, beef empire in 1924.
In 1968 the company was again taken over by Brooke Bond Tea company.
With the sale of the company, came over 2-3 million hectares of farm land and herds of cattle in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Rhodesia, Kenya and South Africa.
Unilever took over the company in 1984, followed by Campbells Soup, who sold the UK operation to Premier Food in 2006
The Oxo brand is still produced in South Africa today by the Mars Group.
The name Oxo has been used for children’s games ( similar to naught’s and crosses) and even a racehorse that won the English Grand National.
There was an Oxo family on television every night in England, for nearly 40 years until 1999 suggesting meat recipe’s utilizing the Oxo cube.
Most of all Oxo opened the doors of the South American beef industry, to the rest of the world.
A little cube in a red box captivated the interest of every major food company in the world, the previous owners of the brand is like a corporate who’s who.
Happy birthday Oxo.
