He opened a factory to produce the meat in Quebec in Canada while at the same time developing Johnston’s Fluid Beef, which was later to become Bovril.
He moved production to Montreal in 1879 he sold the hot beef drink to people during the winter carnival. Johnston’s Fluid Beef was dispensed as a hot drink from the ‘Ice Palaces’ at the Montreal winter carnivals from 1881 to 1884.
In 1886 Johnston commenced manufacture in London of a beef extract and set up fact0ry to produce the drink. The Bovril Company was formed in 1889 with capital of £150,000.
Bovril, which is used as the basis of hot drinks and in cookery, achieved considerable popularity during the first half of the twentieth century, notably as a quick and convenient source of nourishment to civilians and service personnel alike during the two world wars.
Johnston believed his product to be more nutritious than existing similar products such as Liebig’s Extract of Meat, as Bovril contained finely ground meat and other additives.
The name Bovril dates from sales at the South Kensington Exhibition of 1887, where it was dispensed in imitation ‘Ice Palaces’ made of glass. It appears to have been coined based on Latin bos, bovis, cow, ox and probably vril, the name of an imaginary.
Bovril Beef Drink
