Marabou is a Swedish and Norwegian chocolate brand owned by

Mondelez International Mondelez International, Inc. ( ), often styled Mondelēz, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational confectionery, food industry, food, holding and drink industry, beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an ...

History

The brand was founded by the Norwegian

chocolatier A chocolatier is a person or company who makes confectionery from chocolate. Chocolatiers are distinct from chocolate makers, who create chocolate from cacao beans and other ingredients. Education and training Traditionally, chocolatiers, e ...

Johan Throne Holst Johan Throne Holst (7 February 1868 – 13 February 1946), was a Norwegian industrialist and politician for the Liberal Left Party (''Frisinnede Venstre''). He was the founder of Marabou and CEO of Freia, now owned and operated by Mondelez Intern ...

(1868–1946), who already had launched the same chocolate recipe in Norway under the name Freia with great success – in the beginning of the 20th century Freia owned over 50% of the Norwegian market. During the First World War, the continental European markets were closed, so the company decided to expand to Sweden. In 1916, the brand Marabou was created in Sweden;(no
Om Marabou
''Marabou.se'' as the name Freja was already taken in Sweden, the company decided to name their Swedish branch after the

stork Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons an ...

in the logo. However, the actual production didn't start until 1919 due to shortages in cocoa supply caused by World War I. Throne Holst's second son, Henning, took over Sweden's first chocolate factory in Sundbyberg, just north of

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, in 1918. He was in charge of creating the brands which are still present today: ,

Daim DAIM (, like the coin ''dime''; born 1971 as Mirko Reisser) is a German graffiti artist who lives and works in Hamburg. He is particularly known for his large-size, 3D-style graffiti works. This has become known as his trademark. For his technica ...

Twist Twist may refer to: In arts and entertainment Film, television, and stage * ''Twist'' (2003 film), a 2003 independent film loosely based on Charles Dickens's novel ''Oliver Twist'' * ''Twist'' (2021 film), a 2021 modern rendition of ''Olive ...

, and . The first Marabou chocolate to be established was milk chocolate (''Mjölkchoklad''), which was produced using the same recipe as Freia. From the mid-1950s on, Marabou chocolate was

caramelized Caramelization is a process of browning of sugar used extensively in cooking for the resulting sweet nutty flavor and brown color. The brown colors are produced by three groups of polymers: caramelans (C24H36O18), caramelens (C36H50O25), and ca ...

, which significantly changed its taste. Over time, the Sundbyberg factory was not sufficient for the growing demand, so in the 1970s, production moved, after 60 years in one location, to newly built premises in

Upplands Väsby Upplands Väsby () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Upplands Väsby Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 149,463 inhabitants in 2020. History The municipality has a long history with clear traces of settlements from t ...

, where it remains today. At the end of the 1960s, the symbol of Marabou was changed from a stork to the rounded “M” in the company logo. It was designed by

Sigvard Bernadotte Sigvard Oscar Fredrik, Prince Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg (7 June 1907 – 4 February 2002) born as, and until 1934 known as, Prince Sigvard of Sweden, Duke of Uppland, was a member of the Swedish Royal Family and a successful industrial desi ...

. This also marked the beginning of the first commercials starring

Yvonne Lombard Yvonne Lombard (born 28 May 1929) is a Swedish actress. Born in Stockholm, Lombard studied at the Royal Dramatic Theatre ("Dramaten") there, where she trained between 1948 and 1951 with the likes of Max von Sydow and Ingrid Thulin. She has perfor ...

who created the slogan "Mmm... Marabou!". Marabou chocolate is widely available in Sweden in assorted varieties. Freia and Marabou later merged, and, in 1993, were purchased by

Kraft Foods The second incarnation of Kraft Foods is an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. in 2012 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz in 2015. A merger with Heinz, arra ...

for 3 billion

Norwegian krone The krone (, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including Svalbard). Traditionally known as the Norwegian crown in English. It is nominally subdivided into 100 ''� ...

r. Marabou chocolate is available in a number of European countries and was until September 2011 sold by

IKEA IKEA (; ) is a Dutch multinational conglomerate based in the Netherlands that designs and sells , kitchen appliances, decoration, home accessories, and various other goods and home services. Started in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA has been t ...

in Canada, Israel, and Poland. Marabou chocolate is sold by IKEA in Australia, Austria, Canada, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, the UAE, the UK, Iceland and the US. Marabou has a

Royal warrant of appointment Royal warrants of appointment have been issued for centuries to tradespeople who supply goods or services to a royal court or certain royal personages. The royal warrant enables the supplier to advertise the fact that they supply to the issuer of ...

from the

King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary system: see the Instrument o ...

Controversies

In 2013, there was press coverage about Marabou's use of

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...

, which, according to

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

, has a negative effect on the animals and people of the world's

rain forests Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest ...

. According to the Marabou website (in 2020), Marabou milk chocolate (Mjölkchoklad) does not contain palm oil, but some other products of the company do. The company claims to cover their palm oil demands from a RSPO-certified system since 2013.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marabou (Chocolate) Norwegian chocolate companies Food and drink companies of Sweden Swedish brands Mondelez International brands