Liebig's Extract of Meat Company - Early Development

Early Development

In 1840, Liebig developed a concentrated beef extract to provide a cheap and nutritious meat substitute, Extractum carnis Liebig, for those unable to afford the real thing, but European meat was too expensive for it to fill that role. Instead, his extract was dispensed by the royal pharmacy as a tonic.

George Christian Giebert, a young Belgian engineer, read of Liebig's work and wrote to him suggesting that they meet to discuss opening a manufacturing plant in South America using the flesh of cattle that, before the popularity of canning or freezing meat, would otherwise have been killed for their hides alone, bringing the cost of meat to one third of the European cost. The Liebig Extract of Meat Company (Lemco) was established on 4 December 1865 in London with a capital of £150,000.

Since 1863 the industrial plant, owned by the Societe de Fray Bentos Giebert & Cie., was operating on the banks of the Uruguay River at Villa Independencia, Uruguay, later called Fray Bentos, where the extract was manufactured.