Our History
Still Spooning After All These Years
1978
Where It All Started
Oh, to be entranced, enhanced by this magical substance. Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillon has been around for nearly 40 years rescuing many meals such as soups, stews and casseroles from blandness and mediocrity.
1980
The Bouillon is Born
The original recipe was created by Isaak Mansk, aka Lucien Berg, a passionate vegetarian, food writer and novelist. His vision was for an instant non-meat alternative. He discovered a manufacturer in Switzerland who designed an aromatic golden powder which they called “Bouillon” (not a common term in this country in those days and often confused with that other precious stuff).
1981
First Time to Market
Having found this treasure, Isaak had to find a way of getting it to the masses. From a garage in Hampstead, he sent out a dozen various lines to health food stores in Southern England and packed the bouillon powder on the kitchen table.
2003
Marigold’s Big Break
Things changed radically when in 2003 a well known cook called Delia proclaimed in her book, “The Winter Collection,” that a pot of Marigold Bouillon Powder was an essential for every store cupboard. It was then that the supermarkets came knocking and suddenly Marigold became available on nearly every high street. Many other celebrity chefs known only by their first names (think Nigella) have since endorsed it.
2005
Product Popularity
The original recipe in the green label is still the star of the family. The label shows a relatively high content of sea salt (44%) in the dry product but when correctly diluted this reduces to about 2% of the liquid. 'Less Salt’ variants have been developed; the grey-labelled organic and the purple-labelled non-organic.
2010
New Products
There have been very successful range extensions which have maintained standards of excellence and quality: from wonderful Engevita Yeast Nutritional Flakes, Pomegranate Molasses from Lebanon and Braised Tofu to Organic Gravy Mix perfect for any roast dinner.
2012
Marigold Hits The Multiples
Marigold products can be found in independent health food shops such as Whole Foods Market and Planet Organic and quality convenience stores. Various versions of the bouillons are found in Waitrose, Sainsburys, Tesco, Morrisons, Asda, Ocado, Booths and some Marks & Spencer stores.
2013
A Product For The People
A popular feature of the powder is its “spoonability” compared to a cube. It is so easy to add to taste. As well as being the secret weapon of the kitchen, true to its altruistic roots, Marigold bouillon has supported many projects both in the developing world and at home. It’s simply a loving spoonful.
2019
Our Family and an Unfortunate Event
Over forty years, Marigold has grown from 3 people to a team of over 120 people. As well as selling our own brand, Marigold became a leading distributor of over 4,000 lines of natural and organic vegetarian foods, supplying over 500 shops every week. At the end of September, 2019, a fire destroyed our north London home (warehouse and offices). The wider distribution of other lines primarily stops as a much smaller team focuses on the Marigold brand.
2020
Pandemic and the Rise of ‘Nooch’
Bouillon and gravy fly off the shelves: Marigold is fortunate to be able to supply the increase in demand for home cooking ingredients during the Covid-19 lockdown periods.
Veganism continues to grow as people become more aware of the positive impact on the environment, animal welfare and a healthier diet. After supplying Engevita Nutritional Yeast Flakes for over 30 years, Marigold experiences unprecedented demand for this staple of the vegan diet.