Stork is a brand of margarine spread manufactured primarily from palm oil and water, owned by Upfield, except in southern Africa, where it is owned by the

Remgro Remgro Limited is an investment holding company based in Stellenbosch, South Africa. It has interests in banking, financial services, packaging, glass products, medical services, mining, petroleum, beverage, food and personal care products. I ...

subsidiary Siqalo Foods. When it was introduced into the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

from 1920, housewives were initially suspicious of the health effects and cooking ability of margarine. As a result, it required a large amount of advertising in the 1930s to increase usage, supported by the Stork sponsored

Radio Lyons Radio is the technology of signaling and telecommunication, communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device ...

featuring the band of

Carroll Gibbons Carroll Richard Gibbons (January 4, 1903 – May 10, 1954) was an American-born pianist, bandleader and popular composer who made his career primarily in England during the British dance band era. Image of Gibbons from the W.D. & H.O. Wills ...

. Stork has been manufactured at the

Purfleet Purfleet-on-Thames is a town in the Thurrock unitary authority, Essex, England. It is bordered by the A13 road to the north and the River Thames to the south and is within the easternmost part of the M25 motorway but just outside the Greater Lon ...

works (originally Van den Berghs & Jurgens) in the UK since 1920. It was with the onset of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and

rationing Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condimen ...

that sales began to rise, in part driven by the Stork Cookery Service. During the war, a lorry carrying Stork margarine overturned on the

A531 road The A531 is non-primary route in England that runs from Madeley Heath in Staffordshire to join the A500 close to Weston near Crewe, Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the ...

Madeley, Staffordshire Madeley is a village and ward in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, North Staffordshire, England. It is split into three parts: Madeley, Middle Madeley, and Little Madeley. Madeley Heath is also considered by many to be part of Madeley. I ...

, resulting in people coming to try to salvage its load. The location became known as Margarine Corner. Stork was launched in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

in 1950. After rationing ended in the UK in 1954, the brand was relaunched, supported by the "Art of Home Cooking" promotion, with the first Stork television adverts being shown in 1955. Stork soft was introduced in the 1970s, with entertainers

Bruce Forsyth Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was a British entertainer and presenter whose career spanned more than 70 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the ITV series '' Sunday Nig ...

and later

Leslie Crowther Leslie Douglas Sargent Crowther, CBE (6 February 1933 – 29 September 1996) was an English comedian, actor, TV presenter, and game show host. Biography Crowther was born on Monday, 6 February, 1933 in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, son of ...

, fronting taste test-based television adverts.

References

External links

Bake with Stork
Margarine brands Products introduced in 1920 Former Unilever brands Upfield (company) brands {{food-product-stub