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1929

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“Our friends in Gümligen”

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In 1929, Migros established a close business relationship with Haco in Gümligen. Since then, Haco has produced countless key Migros products, from Eimalzin and Toro-Würze, to Kaffee Zaun and Farmer muesli bars.

In February 1929, two men called Gottlieb meet in the train station buffet in Zurich. One is the Migros founder, Duttweiler, and the other is Dr. Lüscher, the manager of Haco AG. This company, which was founded in 1922, produces the malt preparation Hacosan, as well as stock cubes, seasonings and the Tex-Ton brand of soup cubes.
Duttweiler would like to sell these articles in Migros under different names, so that they are not recognisable as Haco products. This is more than just a formality, given that Migros suppliers are regularly boycotted by retailers and consumer associations. The two men quickly agree and arrange a working collaboration for the future.
In August, Migros announces two new “excellent, quality products”. These are Hacosan, which Migros introduces under the name Eimalzin, and Tex-Ton-Würze, which Migros calls Toro-Würze. Because these products are sold so cheaply, retailers react immediately with a boycott of Haco products. But Lüscher does not allow himself to be influenced – not only because the Migros contract has sharply increased his turnover, but also because many restaurants and companies with their own kitchens remain loyal.

Haco products on the shelves at Migros compete with well-established brand articles: Eimalzin rivals Ovomaltine, Toro-Würze rivals Maggi-Würze and Toro soups rival soups from Maggi and Knorr. Within two years, Kaffee Zaun decaffeinated coffee, specially developed by Gottleib Lüscher, competes with Kaffee Hag. The hard-fought battle between Migros and this brand article entails many legal processes and other problems for Gottleib Duttweiler. The collaboration with Haco, on the other hand, marks the beginning of a life-long friendship between the two Gottliebs.
Haco continues to develop new products for Migros today – Farmer muesli bars, for example – and also manufactures products for the M-Budget range. On the shelves of Migros, however, the range has been expanded with brand articles, such as Knorr soups, which Migros introduced in 2004. But Migros still accounts for about half of Haco’s turnover in Switzerland.