Nestlé Cookie Crisp Cereal - 375g

A pharmacist in Vevey

It starts with Henri Nestlé, a German-born pharmacist who settled in Vevey, Switzerland. In 1867 he developed Farine Lactée, a powdered milk-based infant food. Not cookies, then. Not even close. A pharmacist working out how to feed babies is about as far from a Saturday morning bowl of Cookie Crisp as you can get, and yet there is his name, printed on the box in your hand. Every company starts somewhere sensible. It is what happens afterwards that gets interesting.

Two firms, one name

In 1905 Henri Nestlé's firm merged with the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company, and the modern Nestlé company was formed. Powdered infant food on one side, condensed milk on the other. Two firms that knew a great deal about milk, which feels about right for a name that ends up on a breakfast cereal. You do need something to pour over it, after all. From there it is a very long road from a Swiss town to a British kitchen table.

A cupboard full of familiar names

In Britain, that name sits on a lot more than cereal. Nestlé acquired Rowntree Mackintosh in 1988, bringing Kit Kat, Quality Street, Smarties, Rolo and Aero into its British portfolio. Kit Kat began in 1935 as Rowntree's 'Chocolate Crisp' and is still produced at Nestlé's factory on Haxby Road in York. 'Have a break, have a Kit Kat' dates to the late 1950s, and you just finished it in your head. Same name, same trick: one look at the box and you are back home.