In the United States, some leading brands of margarine are Shedd's Spread Country Crock, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, Blue Bonnet, Land O'Lakes, Imperial, Parkay, Brummel & Brown, Fleischmann's and Smart Balance. As of 2013, the most widely consumed margarine in the U.S. was Shedd's Spread Country Crock, which earned an annual revenue of $390.4 million.
Margarine was invented by the French food chemist Hippolyte Mege Mouries in 1869. It was originally made from animal fat and vegetable fat, constituting 80 percent fat and 20 percent water. The modern composition of margarine is largely derived from vegetable oils.
