Conceived by Emperor Napoleon III. Napoleon III who thought his poorer subjects and navy would benefit from having easy access to a cheap butter substitute. He offered a prize for anyone who could create an adequate replacement.
In 1869, French chemist Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès perfected and patented a process for churning beef tallow with milk to create an acceptable butter substitute, thereby winning the Emperor’s prize.
Surprisingly Mège-Mouriès was not the first margarine tycoon. Despite Napoleon III’s high hopes for Mège-Mouriès’ product, dubbed “oleomargarine,” the market did not take off.
In 1871, Mège-Mouriès showed his process to a Dutch company that improved his methods and helped build an international market for margarine. The Dutch entrepreneurs realized that if margarine would become a substitute for butter, it must look like butter, they began dyeing naturally white margarine to a buttery yellow.
Sadly, Mège-Mouriès died a pauper in 1880. The Dutch company that improved his recipe experienced sme success. That company, Jurgens, became a world-renowned maker of margarines and soaps and later became part of Unilever.
The dairy world were predictably irked. Butter was big business. The notion that a cheaper substitute, even one made with milk, terrified dairy farmers. They convinced legislators to tax margarine at a rate of two cents per pound—no small sum in the late 19th century. Dairy farmers also successfully lobbied for restrictions that banned the use of yellow dyes that made margarine look appetizing. By 1900, artificially colored butter was contraband in 30 U.S. states.
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