Background

Before becoming the oil you know so well, Lesieur was a great family story.

Georges Lesieur

Georges Lesieur, born in 1848, started to work at Desmarais Frères in 1863, when he was 15 years old. Founded in 1861 by Charles and Henri Desmarais, this company initially specialised in the purification and distribution of vegetable oils for lights.
Having doubtless started off in a pretty lowly job, Georges Lesieur quickly climbed up the ranks at the company, taking over as general manager in the early 1880s.

Twenty years later, having devoted 45 years of his life to the company, he left Desmarais Frères in the spring of 1908 to set up his own business. He was 60 years old at the time.

" Huileries Lesieur"

Unable to set up his business in Le Havre where there was already Desmarais oil, Georges Lesieur opted to build his factory in Coudekerque, near Dunkirk in Northern France.
In 1908, Georges Lesieur created the "Huileries Georges Lesieur" company, along with his three sons – Maurice, Paul and Henri – and three former colleagues from Desmarais.
In 1909, he patented his famous logo... the four red diamonds. The Coudekerque factory was completed in the same year. It contained three totally separate oil mills for turning different oil-seeds into oil, depending on the type.



Oil in casks

In the early years, peanut oil was the factory’s main product, with sales of around ten thousand tons. "Lesieur" oil only appeared in 1924, with the glass bottle.
Prior to that, oil was sold in casks. Retailers simply chalked the name of the product, the manufacturer and the price onto the cask.
Consumers wanting to buy some oil, took their own container along to the grocery. The name Lesieur didn’t mean anything to them – not surprisingly since there was no advertising in those days...



Birth of a brand

With its returnable glass bottles, George Lesieur’s oil was launched as a new brand. What name should it be given? The same name as the company, since this was also the name of its founder.

In March 1923, the "Lesieur" brand was patented. Georges Lesieur continued to oversee his business until his death, at the age of 83, in 1931.