View source for Oxo (food)

{{Short description|Food ingredient brand}}
{{for|the US kitchen utensils brand|OXO (kitchen utensils brand)}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2008}}
{{infobox brand
| name           = OXO
| logo           = Oxo logo.png
| image          = Oxo cubes.jpg
| caption        = Types of OXO cube
| type           = [[Food]]
| currentowner   = [[Premier Foods]] (United Kingdom)<br>[[Mars, Incorporated]] (South Africa)<br>[[Knorr (brand)|Knorr]] (Canada)
| origin         = United Kingdom
| introduced     = Ireland
| discontinued   =
| related        =
| markets        =
| previousowners =
| trademarkregistrations =
| ambassadors    =
| tagline        =
| website        = {{url|http://www.oxo.co.uk/}}
}}
'''Oxo''' (stylized '''OXO''') is a brand of food products, including [[Bouillon cube|stock cubes]], herbs and spices, dried gravy, and [[yeast extract]].<ref>IACOVETTA, F., KORINEK, V. J., & EPP, M. (Eds.). (2012). Edible Histories, Cultural Politics: Towards a Canadian Food History. University of Toronto Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3138/9781442661509</ref> The original product was the [[beef]] stock cube, and the company now also markets [[Chicken (food)|chicken]] and other flavour cubes, including versions with [[Cuisine of China|Chinese]] and [[Indian cuisine|Indian]] spices. The cubes are broken up and used as flavouring in meals or gravy or dissolved into boiling water to produce a bouillon.

In the United Kingdom, the OXO brand belongs to [[Premier Foods]]. In South Africa, the Oxo brand is owned and manufactured by [[Mars, Incorporated]] and in Canada is owned and manufactured by [[Knorr (brand)|Knorr]].

== History ==
{{main|Liebig's Extract of Meat Company}}

Around 1840, [[Justus von Liebig]] developed a concentrated [[meat extract]]. [[Liebig's Extract of Meat Company]] (Lemco; established in the [[United Kingdom]]) promoted it, starting in 1866. The original product was a viscous liquid, containing only meat extract and 4% salt. In 1899, the company introduced the trademark Oxo; the origin of the name is unknown, but presumably comes from the word "[[ox]]." Since the cost of liquid Oxo remained beyond the reach of many families, the company launched a research project to develop a solid version that could be sold in cubes for a [[penny]].<ref name="StRonan">{{cite web|url=http://www.saintronans.co.uk/History/Gunther-Family/The-Oxo-Story.aspx|title=Saint Ronan's School|access-date=8 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429212733/http://www.saintronans.co.uk/History/Gunther-Family/The-Oxo-Story.aspx|archive-date=29 April 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> After much research, Oxo produced their first cubes in 1910 and further increased Oxo's popularity. During [[World War I]], 100&nbsp;million Oxo cubes were provided to the British armed forces, all of them individually hand-wrapped.<ref name="StRonan" />

The [[Vestey Group]] acquired Lemco in 1924, and the factory was renamed El Anglo. Vestey merged with [[Brooke Bond]] in 1968, which was in turn acquired by [[Unilever]] in 1984. Unilever sold the Oxo brand to the [[Campbell Soup Company]] in 2001, and [[Premier Foods]] bought Campbell's UK operation in 2006. This sale included sites at both [[Worksop]] and [[Kings Lynn]]. The Worksop plant currently produces Oxo cubes.

In South Africa, Oxo is now a brand of [[Mars, Incorporated]]. The only product marketed under the Oxo brand in South Africa was a [[yeast extract|yeast-extract]]-based spread. The product also contained a small portion of beef extract, giving it a slightly "beefier" taste than other yeast extracts. At the beginning of 2015, Mars Consumer Products Africa (Pty), Ltd discontinued Oxo spread in South Africa, with no prior communication to the public.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hellopeter.com/mars-africa/complaints/oxo-spread-discontinued-1781951|title=OXO spread discontinued|access-date=8 May 2016}}</ref>

==Marketing==
In 1908, Oxo (alongside Odol mouthwash and Indian Foot Powder<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.itv.com/news/london/2015-12-04/wildly-interesting-facts-you-never-knew-about-london-until-now/|title=Wildly interesting facts about London you never knew, until now|work=ITV News|date=4 December 2015 |access-date=8 May 2016}}</ref>) was one of the sponsors of the [[1908 Summer Olympics|London Olympic Games]] (despite claims by [[Coca-Cola]] of being the "first" commercial sponsor of the games) and supplied marathon runners with Oxo drinks "to fortify them."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxo.co.uk/about-us|title=OXO - About Us|access-date=8 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320010255/http://www.oxo.co.uk/about-us|archive-date=20 March 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> During the first half of the 20th century, Oxo was promoted through the issue of recipes, gifts, and sponsorships, before fading into the background as a part of the fabric of English life in the latter parts of the century.

[[File:OxoTower.jpg|thumb|[[Oxo Tower]], London]]
In the 1920s, the Liebig's Extract of Meat Company acquired the a Wharf on the south bank of the river [[Thames]] in [[London]]. There they erected a factory, demolishing most of the original building and constructing a tower, with distinctive windows appearing to spell out 'OXO', which became known as the [[Oxo Tower]]<ref name=Stratton>{{cite book|editor-last1=Stratton|editor-first1=Michael|title=Industrial buildings : conservation and regeneration|date=2000|publisher=E & FN Spon|location=London|isbn=978-0419236306|edition=Online-Ausg.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wc6HhqYkF5YC&pg=RA1-PT131|accessdate=18 November 2014}}</ref>

In 1958, Oxo commenced their longest running television advertising campaign, "Life with Katie." Katie was played by Mary Holland, and her long-suffering husband by Peter Moynihan. The campaign ran until the early 1970s, including two seasons where the family traveled to the US to film. By this time, the couple were joined by their "son."

As styles and tastes changed, Oxo moved to a more up-to-date format with Dennis Waterman as the sole face of the brand in the mid '70s.

In 1966, Oxo had a sponsored show on the offshore radio station, [[Wonderful Radio London]]. The show was presented by Tony Windsor; his assistant was a woman called "Katie." Oxo presented a new recipe in each episode.

Oxo launched another long-running advertising campaign in the UK in 1983, when a second "Oxo Family" debuted on commercial television.<ref>{{Cite web |title=» Oxo, 1983Marketing Society - Brand of the year 2019 |url=https://brands.marketingsociety.com/entries/oxo-1983/ |access-date=2024-06-04 |language=en-US}}</ref>  The father was played by [[Michael Redfern]], the mother was played by [[Lynda Bellingham]], while the children were played by [[Blair MacKichan]], Colin McCoy and Alison Reynolds. The advertisements typically featured the family sitting down to a meal at which Oxo gravy would be served.  The product was not always mentioned by name, occasionally appearing only as a logo in the corner of the screen at the end of the commercial.  Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the family were seen to grow older, and, when the campaign was retired in 1999, the family moved out of the house.

On 11 November 2014, it was announced that a 1984 Oxo advert starring Lynda Bellingham would be screened on Christmas Day as a tribute to the actress, who had died of colon cancer the previous month.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-30008548|title=Lynda Bellingham OXO advert to be repeated at Christmas|work=BBC News|access-date=11 November 2014}}</ref> It was aired during a commercial break of ''[[Coronation Street]].''

==See also==
* [[Bovril]]
* [[Oxo Tower]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons|Oxo (food)}}
* {{Official website|http://www.oxo.co.uk }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050407071850/http://www.campbellsoup.co.uk/aboutus/au_history.htm History of Campbell Soup UK]

[[Category:Food brands of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Food ingredients]]
[[Category:Campbell Soup Company brands]]
[[Category:Mars brands]]
[[Category:Yeast extract spreads]]
[[Category:Umami enhancers]]
[[Category:Companies based in Nottinghamshire]]
[[Category:Food paste]]
[[Category:Food and drink companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Former Unilever brands]]
[[Category:Premier Foods brands]]