Meadow Lea facts for kids
Meadow Lea is a very popular brand of polyunsaturated margarine spread in Australia. It was first made in Sydney in 1932. Since 1986, it has been owned by a big food company called Goodman Fielder. For many years, Meadow Lea has been one of the top-selling margarine brands in Australia.
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The Story of Meadow Lea
Meadow Lea Margarine was started by a man named Oliver Triggs in early 1932. He began making it in Newtown, Sydney. But Oliver's journey with margarine actually began four years earlier in Melbourne. There, he made a type of butter from coconut oil, and then margarine, while running a small grocery store.
In April 1932, Oliver Triggs moved to Sydney. The rules for making margarine were better there, and Meadow Lea quickly became very popular. Later that year, the factory moved to a new spot in Newtown. By March 1933, about 70 people worked at the factory!
In 1934, Oliver hired James (Jim) Andrew Armstrong to help sell Meadow Lea in country areas of New South Wales. Years later, in 1945, Armstrong sold his share of the company to Oliver's son, Ken Triggs, and retired.
In 1956, Oliver and Ken Triggs sold the Meadow Lea Margarine Company to another company called Vegetable Oils Proprietary Limited. This company was part of a bigger group called Allied Mills Limited.
Later, in 1986, Allied Mills was taken over by Fielder Gillespie Davis Limited. This created the company we know today as Goodman Fielder Limited. In recent years, Goodman Fielder has become part of even larger international companies.
Meadow Lea Products
In 2010, Meadow Lea offered six different types of spreads:
Oliver Triggs: The Founder
Oliver Francis Triggs (born in 1895, died in 1962) was the person who started the Meadow Lea margarine brand in 1932. He said he was the first person in Australia to make table margarine. He eventually sold Meadow Lea in 1956.
Oliver grew up on a small farm in Melbourne. He fought in World War I with the Australian Light Horse. After the war, he trained as a tailor. But he ended up opening a grocery shop and started making a type of butter from coconut oil. When this coconut oil butter was banned in Victoria to help the regular butter industry, Oliver moved to Sydney in 1932.
Oliver was married to Nita Alice Beck and they had four children: Kenneth, Audray, Marian (who were twins), and Jill.
Oliver Triggs owned a large home called Edgewater in Darling Point from 1935 to 1975. It was a very grand house with gardens, a tennis court, and a swimming pool. He also owned a boat called Sea Mist for a few years.
From 1939 to 1946, Oliver owned a big sheep farm and horse stud called Kyalla Park near Orange. This farm had the first electric sheep-shearing shed in Australia! Oliver also owned a successful racehorse named Gilltown, which won important races like the Moonee Valley Cup.
Ken Triggs: Oliver's Son
Kenneth Oliver Triggs (born in 1924, died in 2022) was Oliver Triggs' only son. He was a director and part-owner of Meadow Lea from 1945 until the company was sold in 1956.
After Meadow Lea, Ken became a farmer. He also became the Chairman of the NSW Egg Board. He was involved in other businesses too, like making polystyrene containers.
Ken Triggs was a very active member of the Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL), which supports veterans. He received an Order of Australia award in 2011 for his great work helping veterans and their families.
The Meadow Lea House
There is a special house in East Lindfield, Sydney, that is named Meadow Lea. This beautiful art deco style home was finished around 1941. It was built for James Andrew Armstrong, who was a co-owner of the Meadow-Lea Margarine Company at the time.
In 1945, the swimming pool and gardens of the house were even used to film parts of a movie called A Son Is Born. The house has been sold several times over the years.
