Antoon Jurgens (1805-1880) was a Dutch merchant and industrialist. He founded a butter company that grew to be one of the largest butter and margarine companies in Europe. His company was instrumental in the formation of Margarine Unie.
Naamloze Vennootschap Margarine Unie (English: Margarine Union Limited) was formed in 1927 in Oss by the merger of Jurgens and Van den Bergh companies based in the Netherlands.
Jurgens and Van den Bergh both started their margarine production in Oss; a small city in the south of the Netherlands which was already the base for their butter trade.
The company main strength lay in Europe, especially Germany and the UK and its interests, whilst
mostly in margarine and other edible fats, were also oil milling and animal feeds, retail companies
and some soap production.
Jurgens and Van den Bergh operated on an international basis. They imported their raw materials from all over the globe. In the beginning, the larger part of their produce was exported. Later, export was replaced by proliferation of production plants in numerous countries.
In 1928 other major European producers of oils, soaps, and margarines were brought in. In September 1928 Calvé-Delft joins Margarine Union and at the end of the year 1928 Schicht and Centra join the group. While Hartog joins Margarine Union in January 1929.
Finally, in 1929, Lever Brothers and its associated firms joined the group, and the twin companies were renamed Unilever.
Dutch Margarine Union
