History of the Schou Foundation

In 1908, having become a wealthy inventor and businessman in industrialised England's margarine industry, Einar Viggo Schou returned from England to Denmark. Acquiring the Palsgaard Estate, a sprawling country manor located in the green fields of Jutland, Einar Viggo Schou revisited a question that had fascinated him for many years: How could water and oil be made to mix better together?  His answer became the world's first commercial emulsifier: Palsgaard Emulsion Oil - which has since formed the basis of all known commercial emulsifiers.

Following the death of his father, Schou's son Herbert (pictured above) inherited the estate and the fast-growing company of Palsgaard. Like Einar, Herbert was socially minded and, in 1957, he transferred all assets including forests, farmland, buildings and Palsgaard itself to the Schou Foundation. This unusual move freed Palsgaard from the threat of takeover, banished short-sighted decision-making and assured the company's future as an oasis of independent development efforts for the food industry.