Henri Nestlé (; born Heinrich Nestle, ; 10 August 1814 – 7 July 1890) was a German-born Swiss confectioner and the founder of Nestlé, the world's largest food and beverage company.

Early life

Henri Nestlé was born Heinrich Nestle on 10 August 1814 in Frankfurt am Main. He was the eleventh of fourteen children of Johann Ulrich Matthias Nestle and Anna Maria Catharina Ehemann. Nestle's father, by tradition, inherited the business of his father, Johann Ulrich Nestle, and became a glazier in Töngesgasse. The later Lord Mayor of Frankfurt am Main, Gustav Edmund Nestle, was his brother.

The Nestle family has its roots in western Swabia, predominantly in boroughs of the Black Forest such as Dornstetten, Freudenstadt, Mindersbach, Nagold, and Sulz am Neckar. In the Swabian dialect, "Nestle" is a small bird's nest. The name Nestle also has different variations, including Nästlin, Nästlen, Nestlin, Nestlen, and Niestle. Nestlé with é is a frenchification of the German name, although Switzerland is 67% German-speaking.

The Nestle family tree began with three brothers (thus the three young birds in the nest being fed by their mother on the family coat of arms) from Mindersbach, called Hans, Heinrich, and Samuel Nestlin. The father of these three sons was born circa 1495. Hans, the eldest, was born in 1520 and had a son with the same name, who later became mayor of Nagold. His son Ulrich was a barber and his fifth son was the first glazier in the family. For over five generations, this profession was passed down from father to son. Additionally, the Nestles provided a number of mayors for the boroughs of Dornstetten, Freudenstadt, Nagold, and Sulz am Neckar.

Career and new name

Before Nestle turned 20 in 1834, he completed a four-year apprenticeship with J. E. Stein, owner of a Frankfurt pharmacy. At some point between 1834 and 1839 he migrated, for reasons unknown, to Switzerland. At the end of 1839, he was officially authorized in Lausanne, Vaud, to perform chemical experiments, make up prescriptions, and sell medicines. During this time, he changed his name to Henri Nestlé in order to adapt better to the new social environment in French-speaking Vevey, where he eventually settled.

In 1843, Nestlé bought into one of the region's production of rapeseeds. He also became involved in the production of nut oils (used to fuel oil lamps), liqueurs, rum, absinthe, and vinegar. He also began manufacturing and selling carbonated mineral water and lemonade, although during the European food crisis in the 1840s, Nestlé gave up mineral water production. In 1857 he began concentrating on gas lighting and fertilizers.

Though it is not known when Nestlé started working on his infant formula project, by 1867, Nestlé had produced a viable powdered milk product. His interest is known to have been spurred by several factors. Although Nestlé and his wife were childless, they were aware of the high death rate among infants. Nestlé would have been aware of Justus von Liebig's work in developing an infant formula. Initially called "kindermehl," or "children flour", his product had an advantage over Liebig's "soup for infants" in that it was much easier to prepare, needing only to be boiled prior to feeding, and it soon proved to be a viable option for infants who were unable to breastfeed.

Nestlé died in Glion on 7 July 1890.

References

Sources

  • Kaufmann, Jens Th.: "Familie Nestle aus Nagold und Mindersbach". In: Südwestdeutsche Blätter für Familien- Und Wappenkunde. Band 29, 2011, S. 26–46.
  • Pfiffner, A.: Henri Nestlé: Vom Frankfurter Apothekergehilfen zum Schweizer Pionierunternehmer. Zürich, 1993
  • Alex Capus: Patriarchen, Albrecht Knaus Verlag, München 2006. .
  • Henri Nestlé biography. Switzerland.isyours.com.
  • History of Nestlé. Nestlé.com.
  • Henri Nestle and the Pavillons des Halles from Paris.