Henri Nestle: The man who changed the history of chocolate!

Henri Nestlé was working as an assistant to a local pharmacist in the early days of his career. He had studied science and chemistry. Henri, who has an innovative character by nature, has tried everything, from the food sector to cement production. In 1867, Henri Nestlé produced a nutritious combination of milk, wheat flour and sugar for children. This food was so nutritious that it prevented infant mortality, which was quite high at that time, and saved the lives of dozens of children. This product, called Farine Lactee (flour with milk), was developed for the consumption of babies who could not be fed with breast milk. When product sales took off, large-scale production was started. In 1875, just 8 years after the product was first launched, Nestlé products were available all over the world—Indonesia, Argentina, Egypt and even the USA.

The first Nestlé logo was created in 1868, and Henri Nestlé created this logo inspired by his own family name. Henri had emigrated from Switzerland to Germany. The company's first logo was the surname Nestlé, which means "nest" (Nest means bird's nest) in German. The first logo consists of tiny birds feeding in a birdhouse. The logo included both family origins and references to the baby food products the company produced. The logo has been reshaped and simplified over the years. However, it has always preserved the basic structure that Henri Nestlé developed in 1868.

The First World War seriously disrupted the European economy and the functioning of the businesses that are part of this economy. Switzerland remained neutral, albeit armed, during the First World War. Even if they did not take part in the struggle, the country's economy was greatly affected by Germany's loss of the war and the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Switzerland experienced a severe economic crisis caused by the decline in energy consumption during the First World War.

The European industrial world suffered heavy losses during the war period between 1914-1918. Although Switzerland was not too involved in the tensions between the countries, it was difficult for Nestlé to find the raw materials and other goods needed to continue production as before. The deployment process was also painful, as the entire continent was at war. The raw material of many Nestlé products was fresh milk, and there was a severe shortage of fresh products, let alone milk, during this period.

Many companies, including Nestlé, have managed to survive even during this difficult economic period, the result of wide-ranging conflicts. The company has signed several government contracts that will require them to grow rapidly. When the war ended in 1918, Nestlé was a company with a total of 40 factories around the world.

Although the global depression began in the 1930s, a period of serious economic depression began for Central Europe immediately after the First World War. Unemployment rose in Germany, Poland and Austria, while inflation reached unprecedented levels. The economic storm had begun to make itself felt long before the war, but the loss of the war made the situation worse in most Central European countries.

Nestlé was just one of hundreds of companies hit by the economic collapse of the 1920s. Despite all the difficulties of the period, the company managed to overcome this troublesome process and bought Calliet, Peter and Kohler Swiss Chocolate companies in the mid-1920s. At this point, chocolate has become one of the focal points of the business. This investment in chocolate would bring innovation and diversity towards the end of the century.

The company spent most of its time in the 1920s and 1930s in order to survive and survive this politically and economically challenging period with minimal damage. Notable growth or development did not occur until 1938, when Nestlé launched its first coffee product, Nescafé. The birth of Nescafé was the result of a request from the Brazilian government to Nestlé to find a way to preserve their excess coffee. World War II was looming, and this significantly slowed down the development of coffee products, the area in which Nestlé would be most successful in the future. Ironically, Nescafé's first brand ambassadors were Allied soldiers. Nestlé was able to reach world markets quickly thanks to the coffees they sent to the front at the order of the United States government.

During the wars of the 20th century, due to Switzerland's legendary neutrality, Nestlé's Swiss facilities were not seized by the Swiss government or used for other purposes. This was the opposite of the economic situation or production/consumption approach that prevailed in Europe at that time.

In 1939, Nestlé's management was shifted to the United States. Nestlé employees, who are far from the European front, have worked tirelessly to maintain the existence of this business, which they established and expanded together, both in Europe and around the world.

During the Second World War, innovations did not cease. In 1940, the iced tea Nestea was created. The history of tea dates back thousands of years, and the success of iced tea was clearly observed from the beginning of the 19th century. As a joint venture of the two largest food and beverage manufacturers in the world, Nestea, Coca-Cola and Nestle, it managed to make its name known all over the world; however, it was not introduced to America until 1948.

II. The end of World War II was a period of growth and recovery for the whole world. When Europe regained political and financial stability, many companies strong enough to survive the war made a breakthrough.

The end of the war marked the beginning of a period of considerable growth for Nestlé, where they began to acquire new companies and dozens of new products. One of the largest acquisitions made was with Maggi, a Swiss company. Maggi was founded in 1872 by Julius Maggi at roughly the same time as Nestlé. The company had similar initial goals as Nestlé. Julius Maggi wanted to make the feeding of working families cheap, on the one hand, and on the other hand, he wanted to introduce them to protein-rich meals. The company was founded in 1897 in Singen, a German town on the northern German-Swiss border. The company, which was exposed to a series of managerial changes in 1947, entered into a corporate restructuring process. Eventually, Alimentana S.A, the holding company responsible for Maggi, merged with Nestlé. Nestlé had begun to manufacture Maggi products, which are now sold worldwide. For example, in many parts of Asia, Maggi pasta was almost synonymous with the concept of instant pasta. The brand dominated most of the market. Other products of the company consisted of seasoning sauces, meat and chicken bouillons and instant soups.

In 1948, Nestlé introduced the United States to a product that would become an icon of American culture: the Nesquik. Nesquik was a chocolate powder mixed with milk to make instant chocolate milk. The company developed a suitable strawberry flavor and added it to the product. First appearing in 1973, the Nesquik rabbit quickly became popular with adults and children and became an advertising giant. Today, Nesquik comes in two flavors and is produced in both powder and syrup form.

Since there has not been a major war in Europe in the last ten years, there was a deep silence on the Western front. But you couldn't see the same silence in the business world. On the contrary, these were the years when bold steps were taken. In 1974, Nestlé decided to go out of the food production industry and made its first move in this direction. His target was the company L'Oreal. L'Oreal was a world-famous Paris-based company that was founded in 1909 and caters to hair. This company, which was founded by a French chemist, Eugene Schueller, when he created a hair dye that was extremely popular among the hairdressers of Paris, opened its doors in 1909. Thanks to the popularity of Schueller, it had already managed to reach its target customers and the press world. Between 1909 and 1974, L'Oreal started to add hair care products to its product range, in addition to hair dye, with an innovative approach. In 1964, the company acquired Lancome, a well-established company and prestigious name in the French skincare and cosmetics field, which is known worldwide. L'Oreal has entered the process of restructuring. During this restructuring, Eugene Schueller's daughter, Liliane Bettencourt, retained most of the company's shares. In 1974, Nestlé offered Bettencourt a deal too good to refuse. They had agreed to buy half of Nestle Bettencourt's stake in Loreal in exchange for 3% of Nestle's shares. Nestlé and the Bettencourt family now owned 60% of L'Oreal, and by the 1980s L'Oreal had become the world's largest cosmetics company. In 2014, Nestlé and the Bettencourt family rearranged the terms of the agreement, and Nestlé sold back some of its shares in L'Oreal to the family.

Nestlé continued the process of expanding its range by acquiring an American pharmaceutical company, Alcon Laboratories, in 1977. Alcon was a company founded in Fort Worth Texas in 1945 that specialized in creating optical products. Nestlé acquired the company in 1977 with the aim of entering the pharmaceutical market. Under the supervision of Nestlé, Alcon was transformed from a company operating in 75 countries into a company selling products to 180 countries. In 2002, Nestlé put its shares in Alcon up for sale. In 2008, a quarter of its shares were bought by Novartis. Novartis now owns 77% of Alcon Laboratories, while Nestlé has no stake in the Alcon company.

When Nestle offered $3 billion to buy the Carnation Company in 1984, it took a historic step. Because it was one of the largest acquisitions of a company in the food industry. It was even said that this acquisition was the largest ever merger of two companies that do not belong to the oil industry. Carnation Company was also attractive to Nestlé because it was a wide-ranging company as well as evaporating dairy products. The company also owned Friskies, an important and profitable type of pet food. In addition, Contadina tomato products belonged to them. The deal was so big that state approval was sought. However, in 1985 the necessary permission was obtained from the trade commission.

As we mentioned earlier, Nestlé's coffee history dates back to the 1940s, when the Brazilian government tried to keep the excess coffee in stock. That story took a different turn when the company launched Nespresso in 1986. It was designed as a high-end, luxury coffee, unlike the cold-shock-dried budget-friendly coffees introduced before Nespresso. Today, Nespresso is known as the most exclusive of coffee and is represented by George Clooney in advertisements. Nespresso has boutique stores spread all over the world and has agreements with luxury hotel chains such as The Ritz-Carlton and Shangri-La Hotels.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Europe once again became a largely accessible market. Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic were known as emerging European markets. China also became a center of attraction during this period. For a company with international ambitions like Nestlé, this was an ideal business atmosphere. With new and diverse markets to serve, Nestlé has been presented with the opportunity to become a more diversified company.

The first major acquisition of this period took place in 2001 when Nestlé acquired the Ralston Purina Company. A new company compared to Nestle, Purina was creating products like Friskies, a pet food brand that had become wildly popular in the US. Following the merger, a new pet food company called Nestlé Purina PetCare Company was formed.

Nestlé's growth accelerated in 2002 when it acquired two more of North America's most successful companies. This time the main theme was frozen products and Nestlé bought Dreyer ice creams in July. The following month, Nestlé acquired Chef America Inc, a frozen food manufacturer, for exactly $2.6 billion. The company's monopoly of the frozen food business continued in 2003 with Nestlé's acquisition of Movenpick Ice Cream, a luxury Swiss ice cream company. This process culminated in Nestlé's acquisition of both Jenny Craig and Uncle Toby in 2006.

Nestle, which acquired Gerber ten years later, made one of its biggest acquisitions to date. For Nestlé, this move is a bit of a return to its roots, as Gerber is one of the most important baby food manufacturers in the United States and Canada. Nestlé bought the company in 2007 for $5.5 billion.

From the 19th to the 21st centuries, Nestle products have succeeded in embodying their distinctive innovative spirit and nurturing. Today, Nestlé has more than 2,000 brands sold in more than 197 countries around the world. The company has clear goals to be a leader in both health and wellness. That's why the company has not limited itself to the food industry, but has also immersed itself in the beauty and health industries to create a truly diverse and diverse company.