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Every year
,
nearly 100 million tonnes of soyabeans are processed as food for people
and animals-an almost inconceivable figure . From this quantity it would
be possible to obtain 500,000 tonnes of lecithin-but actual production
only amounts to about 125.000 tonnes .
Although the Frenchman Maurice Gobley discovered egg lecithin, which he
called "lekithos" , as early as 1850, lecithin with its many and various
functions did not come into its own until the triumphant advance of the
soybean .
It
was no doubt pure coincidence that a Hamburg captain-Lucas Meyer-chose
this very time to set up an axport firm for pharmaceutical specialities
. In His earlier years he had become familiar with the hard and spartain
life on board tramp sailing ships. he had a good understanding of the
mentality of people in other countries and was familiar with their
anxieties , illnesses and needs. On 14 june 1923 the entering of his
company in the commercial register marked the opening of a new chapter
in his life, a chapter that was to record a succussful response to a
great new challenge .
Initially his efforts were centred round persuading large and
established pharmaceuticals manufacturers to sign agency agreements for
medicines to fight the scourges of malaria and dysentery , giving him
exclusive rights to export such product to the countries at risk .
From
1929 onwards, this phase was followed by a period of fruitful
collaboration with his brother, Dr. Heinz Meyer-Castens, who was
building. This was where the preparatins were now produced that were so
urgently needed in countries overseas .
In 1938
Lucas Meyer expanded, setting up a branch in Brazil.
Some
medicines already contained lecithin as an important constituent. In the
early thirties , for example, a calcium an iron preparation was put on
the market under the name " Dome-Calcium " as a tonic and restorative
for children and women in childbed .
From
here it was still a long, but successful road to the lecithin specialist
of today :
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