Toro

Toro is a Norwegian food brand focused on convenient cooking products, including soups, sauces, bouillon, instant meals, meal bases, rice products, hot chocolate, waffle mixes, cake mixes, and seasonings. The brand originated in 1946 with the production of meat bouillon and subsequently developed a broad range of shelf-stable products designed to simplify everyday meal preparation. Its name is Spanish for “bull” and was registered as a trademark in 1964. The brand is associated with practical Norwegian home cooking. Many Toro products are sold as dry mixes in bags, allowing consumers to prepare soups, sauces, gryteretter, desserts, or drinks by adding water and, depending on the product, ingredients such as meat, poultry, rice, pasta, or vegetables. A smaller number of products are sold as microwave meals or cup meals. Toro is particularly associated with gryterett, a one-pot meal format in which rice or pasta, meat or chicken, seasoning, water, and selected vegetables are cooked together. The brand is commonly credited with helping establish this type of prepared meal as a familiar category in Norway. Toro’s product portfolio includes traditional Norwegian and broadly international flavors. Soup examples include tomato, cauliflower, and fish soup. Sauce products include béarnaise, hollandaise, gravy, tomato, chicken, and mushroom-based sauces. Prepared meal mixes include lasagna, stroganoff, and chicken tikka masala, while other offerings include rice, instant cup meals, hot chocolate, waffles, cakes, and general seasoning products. Production is centered at Toro’s plant in Indre Arna, Bergen. The facility was expanded repeatedly after the brand moved production from Nøstet to Arna in 1967; the referenced account records nine expansions since the beginning of operations. Toro is owned by Orkla Group, which acquired the brand from its founding owner, Rieber & Søn. The cited reference describes approximately 140 million consumption units across roughly 750 products and states that the wider operation had about 900 employees, including around 350 at the Indre Arna plant; these figures are not assigned a specific reporting year in the available material. Norway remains Toro’s principal market. The brand is also sold in Iceland, where Norwegian products are supplemented by a small number of Iceland-specific items, including leek soup and curry sauce. A limited selection of Toro gryterett and sauce products is available in some Swedish grocery stores close to the Norway–Sweden border, particularly retailers serving Norwegian shoppers. Toro’s positioning is therefore based on convenience, familiarity, broad household usefulness, and adaptation of both local and international meal ideas into easy-to-prepare packaged formats.

Toro began in Norway in 1946, when its original business produced meat bouillon. The brand developed within Rieber & Søn, the company identified with its founding and early ownership. In its first decades, Toro expanded beyond bouillon into a wider range of dry, shelf-stable products intended to make household cooking faster and more predictable. The name Toro, derived from the Spanish word for “bull,” was registered as a trademark in 1964. Three years later, production moved from Nøstet to Arna, an industrial area of Bergen now known as Indre Arna. The Arna site became the brand’s principal manufacturing base and was expanded nine times according to the available reference material. The plant’s role reflects Toro’s growth from a bouillon product into a large portfolio of soups, sauces, meal mixes, beverages, baking products, and seasonings. A major part of Toro’s Norwegian identity is its association with gryterett, or one-pot meals. Toro’s versions generally combine rice or pasta, seasoning, water, small vegetables, and an added protein such as meat or chicken. This format differs from dishes in which the rice and stew are prepared separately, and it helped make a convenient complete-meal format familiar to Norwegian consumers. The brand also broadened its range with products inspired by international cooking, including lasagna, stroganoff, chicken tikka masala, and several European-style sauces. Toro’s range eventually reached hundreds of products and substantial production volumes. The available reference describes approximately 140 million consumption units divided among 750 products, as well as about 900 employees across the operation, with approximately 350 working at the Indre Arna plant. Because no date is supplied for these figures, they should be treated as undated reference information rather than a current company disclosure. Ownership later changed when Orkla Group acquired Toro from Rieber & Søn. Under Orkla, Toro remained a Norwegian food brand with production based in Indre Arna and a strong domestic distribution presence. Its Norwegian portfolio includes soups, sauces, instant meals, meal mixes, rice, hot chocolate, waffles, cakes, and seasonings. Most products continue to use powder-based formats, although the range also includes cup meals and microwave-oriented products. Outside Norway, Toro has a presence in Iceland, where selected Norwegian products are sold alongside a small number of locally targeted offerings such as leek soup and curry sauce. Limited sales also occur in Swedish grocery stores near the Norwegian border, especially stores serving Norwegian customers. The brand’s history is consequently defined by a combination of Norwegian manufacturing, broad household distribution, product-format innovation in convenience cooking, and gradual adaptation to neighboring markets.

• 1967

  Production moved to Arna

  [1]Toro (Norwegian company)en.wikipedia.org

  Toro production moved from Nøstet to Arna in Bergen, later known as Indre Arna.

• 1964

  Toro name registered

  [1]Toro (Norwegian company)en.wikipedia.org

  The Toro name was registered as a trademark.

• 1946

  Toro brand launched

  [1]Toro (Norwegian company)en.wikipedia.org

  Toro began with the production of meat bouillon in Norway.

• Acquisition by Orkla

  [1]Toro (Norwegian company)en.wikipedia.org

  Orkla Group acquired Toro from its founding owner, Rieber & Søn; the available reference does not specify the acquisition year.

A Norwegian convenience-food brand centered on simple preparation, familiar household cooking, shelf-stable meal components, and accessible versions of both traditional and international dishes.

• Soup mixes

  Soups

  Toro’s soup range is primarily sold in powdered formats intended for preparation at home. Referenced examples include tomato soup, cauliflower soup, and fish soup. The category represents the brand’s emphasis on convenient, shelf-stable products that can be prepared with limited effort while retaining familiar household meal associations.

• Sauce mixes

  Sauces

  Toro produces dry and convenient sauce products covering both classic European sauces and everyday accompaniments. The referenced range includes béarnaise, hollandaise, gravy, tomato, chicken, and mushroom-based sauces. These products are designed to provide a prepared sauce format without requiring consumers to assemble a recipe from separate base ingredients.

• One-pot meal mixes

  Gryterett meal mixes

  Gryterett products are one-pot meal mixes associated closely with Toro’s Norwegian identity. Depending on the variety, consumers combine the mix with water and ingredients such as meat, chicken, rice, pasta, vegetables, beans, or mushrooms. The referenced portfolio includes several styles and helped establish the one-pot meal as a convenient packaged-food format in Norway.

• Prepared meal mixes

  International meal mixes

  Toro’s broader meal-mix portfolio includes products modeled on dishes from outside Norway, including lasagna, stroganoff, and chicken tikka masala. These products translate recognizable dishes into shelf-stable or easy-preparation formats, supporting the brand’s role as a practical household cooking solution rather than a narrowly traditional Norwegian line.

• Baking and drink mixes

  Baking and beverage mixes

  The brand also sells products for baking and hot drinks, including hot chocolate, waffle mixes, and other cake mixes. These products extend Toro beyond main meals and sauces into familiar household occasions such as breakfasts, desserts, snacks, and warm beverages.

• Cooking ingredients

  Seasonings and rice

  Toro’s referenced assortment includes rice products and seasonings used to support everyday meal preparation. These items complement the brand’s soups, sauces, and meal mixes by providing additional cooking components in packaged formats intended for convenience and consistency.

1. 1Toro (Norwegian company)en.wikipedia.org
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