Maggi (German: [ˈmaɡi] ^ⓘ, Italian: [ˈmaddʒi]) is an international brand of seasonings, instant soups, and noodles that originated in Switzerland in the late 19th century. In 1947, the Maggi brand was acquired by the Swiss giant Nestlé.

In 1869, Julius Maggi (1846–1912) took over his father's mill business in Kemptthal, Switzerland. Under his leadership, the business developed into one of the pioneers of industrial food production, with the aim of improving the diet of working-class families through better nutrient supply and faster preparation.

In 1882, at a meeting of the Swiss "Common Good Society" (Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft), the doctor and factory inspector Fridolin Schuler spoke about the miserable nutritional situation of the factory workers: women workers no longer had enough time to cook for their families; cold meals or alcohol often replaced warm meals; meals were served in factory canteens and were cheap but not sufficiently nutritious. The consequences were malnutrition, stomach diseases, and high infant mortality. Schuler advocated for diets based on high-protein, easily digestible pulses/legumes. He demanded that such meals should be offered to the economic class in a convenient form for quick preparation and at a low price. The society turned to the Maggi company, among others.

Julius Maggi experimented for two years with different methods of mechanical and chemical processing of legumes and different mixtures. The results were presented to the representatives of the Society on 19 November 1884. They approved the results and signed a contract to exclusively recommend Maggi's legumes for a period of three years. Maggi, in turn, guaranteed a fixed price and regular product controls for sales in Switzerland. However, the Society was accused of representing the interests of a private company. The Maggi company, on the other hand, had difficulties challenging other suppliers of soup powder on the market, despite support from the Society.

Since 1884, Maggi has been offering flour made from protein-rich legumes, which can be cooked quickly by being roasted beforehand. Maggi was the first to bring such legume meals to the market.

In 1885, Maggi brought nine industrially produced types of legume flour onto the market. In 1885, he received the "First Class Diploma" at the Swiss Culinary Art Exhibition in Zurich. In 1886, Maggi produced acid-hydrolyzed vegetable protein product industrially for the first time, producing the new "Maggi seasoning". The product combined with legume meals to make a ready-made soup as competition for the meat extract invented by Justus von Liebig. The first warehouses and branches abroad were founded, including Maggi GmbH in Singen, Germany in 1887. In order to obtain additional capital for the planned further expansion, the company was converted into a public limited company in 1889 with Julius Maggi as general director. In 1908, Maggi brought the bouillon cube onto the market, replacing the bouillon concentrate capsules.

Maggi introduced extensive social benefits that were unusual for the time, such as a canteen, workers' housing, company health insurance, widow's and old-age pensions, and no work on Saturdays, introduced in 1906. In a strike at the Singen plant in 1907, Maggi successfully mediated, accused the management of having lost "contact with the workforce" and suggested the establishment of a "workers' committee", an early form of the works council. In 1912, Maggi signed the first collective agreement in the German food industry.

Maggi lived mainly in Paris from 1902 and led the company to great success with new products in France. The sales of pasteurized milk by the "Société laitière Maggi" amounted to 60 million liters in 1912, and the sales of bouillon cubes with the name KUB amounted to 6 million units a month in 1912.