The Laughing Cow
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The Laughing Cow is a brand of processed cheese products owned by Groupe Bel. Originally launched in France as La vache qui rit in 1921, the brand is now sold in more than 90 countries. According to the Groupe Bel web site, 125 portions of the cheese are eaten every second around the world.
The product
The cheese is a blend of cream, milk and fresh and aged cheeses, particularly comté, which are pasteurized to stop the ripening process. Versatile and portable because of its pasteurization process, Laughing Cow does not have to be refrigerated. The archetypal Laughing Cow cheese comes wrapped in the individual serving-sized foiled wedges, and they are packaged in a round, flat box. Consumers have to pull a little red thread around the box to open it, and the foil packaging also features an easy-opening red tab. In various worldwide markets, it is served as squares, rectangles, slices, bite-sized cubes and in spreadable tubs. Because it is a smooth, sweet, buttery cheese, it is favored by children and eaten usually in France as a part of picnic.
Laughing Cow is available in its original flavor, a light version with only 7% fat, and an ultra-light version with just 3% fat (not available in the USA). In addition, flavored versions of the cheese (such as ham, gruyère, garlic, paprika, mushroom, chèvre, bleu, hazelnut, pizza and onion) are also available in various markets worldwide.
Evolution of the brand
The eponymous laughing cow is red and jovial, and is almost always depicted wearing earrings that look like the round boxes the cheese comes in. On April 16 1921, Léon Bel trademarked his brand, called "La Vache qui rit," (literally The Cow who laughs) in France. In the trademark, the cow is said to have a hilarious expression. Bel had made the original drawing himself, after having seen a traveling meat wagon during World War I called "La Wachkyrie," a play on the word for Valkyrie. In the beginning she wasn't laughing, she wasn't red and she didn't wear earrings. This patent was the very first branded cheese product registered in France. In 1924, Benjamin Rabier, a famous illustrator, edited the drawing into more of the image that prevails today. The blue and white stripes around the box date from 1955. In 1976 both boxes in the ears are shown with the top-side visible. Before that year consumers were shown a top and bottom side.
Worldwide popularity
The cheese has been a constant, but hardly popular product in the United States for a number of years. However, demand for the triangular wedges has skyrocketed recently, since the product was suggested as a viable menu item to followers of the South Beach Diet. Also the Cheese Cubes (PartyCubes, Belcube, Cheese&Fun, Apéricube) on which "The Laughing Cow" is seen are very popular.
The cheese is quite popular in the Arab world, and because no animal rennet or pepsin is used, it is considered halaal. Groupe Bel announced on October 2 2005 that they plan to open a 13 million euro factory in Syria. This is the first direct foreign investment in Syria. The product is localized by name nearly everywhere it's sold. Depending on where one is, it can be known as:
- The Laughing Cow in English-speaking countries
- Die lachende Kuh in German-speaking countries
- Veselá kráva in the Czech Republic
- Krówka Śmieszka in Poland
- La vaca que ríe in Spanish-speaking countries
- A vaca que ri in Brazil and Portugal
- Con bò cười in Vietnam
- Vessiolaia Bourionka in Russia
- Den Skrattande Kon in Sweden
- Den leende ko in Denmark
- La Vache Qui rit in the Netherlands
- Lavaş Kiri in Turkey
- La Vache Qui Rit in Canada (even though Canada is bilingual, and primarily English-speaking)
among other names.
Other associations
- The Laughing Cow logo appears, sans earrings, on the sign for Saigon Noodle, an Asian restaurant in the city of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.
External link
- The Laughing Cow at The Bel Group's web site
- La Vache qui rit official site (in french)