![]() ![]() ![]() The Laughing Cow was the first to support sporting events, thanks to the popular cycling race, the Six Days of Paris in 1925, before participating in the Tour de France Caravan in 1933. From 1933 onwards, the VQR boxes contained collectable pictures that made it a successful brand for children. It was advertised in the press and took part in the first beginnings of radio advertising: the song “C’est la Vache qui rit” (It’s the Laughing Cow), by Jean Rodor and sung by the aptly named Constantin le Rieur, could be heard on the airwaves… In 19, the brand also organized major contests to win great prizes. It became a starlet that Joséphine Baker enjoyed. Enamelled plates, calendars and clocks indicate that the company sells the famous Laughing Cow.įrom these early years, The Laughing Cow communicated with a smiling, offbeat tone that would never leave it. These retailers are particularly pampered by the company: it provides them with advertising material that will decorate the store. It has its own warehouses in all major cities in France, a network of representatives and a fleet of vehicles with the Laughing Cow logo. To get the cheeses to the retail outlets, Bel uses wholesalers, retailers and cooperatives, i.e. From 1933, they set up production units and marketing companies in Belgium, and gradually in other European countries. As early as 1929, the Fromageries Bel marketed the cheese in England. This factory was designed to produce 120,000 boxes of Laughing Cow per day, and very quickly the company sought to open up to the world. Léon Bel understood that advertising drives sales. The most original aspect of this plant was the creation, in 1926, of an “advertising office” that managed the brand’s “advertising” in-house. The first installations were quickly outdated, and he had a new ultramodern factory built in Lons, which was inaugurated at the end of 1926. A way to feminize this cow that gives its milk to make good cheeses. He asks the printer Vercasson to tint this cow’s head in red and on the advice of his wife, Anne-Marie, to adorn it with earrings in the shape of a Laughing Cow box. In 1923, he took the plunge by using Benjamin Rabier’s drawing, which gave it the friendly, human aspect it lacked. ![]() Léon Bel sought to change the image of the Laughing Cow. In the first year, 12,000 boxes were sold per day. This was also the opportunity to develop the triangular portion casting machine, initially wrapped in tinfoil and now placed in cardboard boxes. Faced with the rapid success of his new brand, Léon Bel equipped the workshop with modern machinery in 1924 to increase production while improving the working conditions of the workers. In 1922, he founded the “Société Anonyme des Fromageries Bel”, a company that he managed until 1937, and which he passed on to his son-in-law Robert Fiévet. He was inspired by the RVF B70 badge to represent a cow standing with a hilarious expression. On April 16, 1921, Léon Bel registered the brand name La vache qui rit. To launch his own brand, he called on the expertise of Emile Graf and moved into the workshop known as “de l’Aubépin. His farsightedness was to work wonders: he foresaw the immense success of processed cheese in the post-war world. The new cheese was still unknown, but it had a future: it was good, economical and its tasty paste packaged in metal cans could withstand long trips and hot climates.īack in Lons in 1919, Léon Bel took over the reins of his company. The commander of the RVF B70, wrote to Benjamin Rabier, a famous illustrator, who sent him back the image of a smiling ox, which an irreverent soldier had the idea of calling “The Wachkyrie”, in reference to the Valkyries so dear to the Germans…Īt the same time, in 1917, Emile, Otto and Gottfried Graf, Swiss, imported to France the technique of making processed cheese, developed in Switzerland in 1907 by Gerber. The soldiers began to draw “badges” on the vehicles, often humorous, to identify the different units. Léon Bel, mobilized at the age of 36, was assigned to the “Train” squadrons, to the “Fresh Meat Supply”, whose mission was to transport meat to the soldiers at the front on board City of Paris buses requisitioned for the occasion! Henri left the company in 1908 and the company was renamed “Léon Bel, Gruyère en gros”. In 1897, the company moved to Lons-le-Saunier, taking advantage of the proximity of the railway line and the Montmorot salt mines. He was only 55 years old when in 1897 he entrusted his business to his two sons Henri and Léon, respectively 29 and 19 years old. He bought “white” wheels of Gruyère and other hard cheeses from cooperatives called “fruitières” to age them.Īmbitious, dynamic, a local man who inspires respect and confidence, Jules Bel was able to pass on to his sons the demands of a difficult profession. The story begins in Orgelet in the Jura where Jules Bel established himself at the age of 23 (1865), as a master cheese refiner.
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