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| Product type | Condiments |
|---|---|
| Owner | Mars Inc. (1967–present) |
| Country | Australia |
| Introduced | 1945 |
| Markets | Worldwide |
| Previous owners | Henry Lewis |
| Website | masterfoods.com.au |
MasterFoods is a brand of condiments manufactured by Mars Inc. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Originally produced by Australian Henry Lewis & Company since 1945, [6] the brand name "Masterfoods" was acquired by Mars in 1967. [7]
MasterFoods was created by Henry Lewis in Australia in 1945. Originally launched as "Henry Lewis & Company" in 1926, [6] they began by importing specialty international foods and spices such as paprika, bay leaves and canned asparagus. [8] The business was renamed to "Henry Lewis & Sons" [6] and later Masterfoods (also seen as MASTERFOODS, MasterFoods and Master Foods) [6] [9] on 20 July 1945 and began manufacturing their own products in the 1950s. [8]
Henry Lewis passed the business onto his sons John (born 1920), Victor (born 1923) and David (born 1929) all of whom worked in the business. [6] John as chairman and managing director, Victor as production director and David as research director. [10] Victor studied food technology in the United States of America, returning in 1949, becoming one of Australia's first food technologists. [6] The company began manufacturing foods in the 1950s, with the first product being bread and butter cucumbers. During WWII when importation was restricted the company acted as a distributor for Australian and New Zealand brands. [6]
The brand was sold to Mars Inc. in 1967, and Mars Food Australia was created as a part of the purchase. [1] At the time of sale, Masterfoods had over 150 products and were distributing to 40 countries, 25 percent of turnover was imported goods. [9]
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