Created in 1949 by Álvaro Justino Matias, Dr. Bayard’s pectoral cough drops are inspired in a French therapeutic formula and are, to this day, a symbol of tradition and quality, maintaining the original recipe that perpetuates the memory from generation to generation.
Álvaro Matias, born in Almeida (district of Guarda) was born in 1914 but, with only 16 years of age, left his homeland, heading to Lisbon in search of a better life. In the capital, for about a decade, he went through several jobs until he found a stable job as an apprentice and as a traveling clerk, in a grocery store in downtown Lisbon. He thought, back then, to emigrate to Brazil and he still did not know this job would open a door to a meeting that would change his life.
It was at this grocery store that, in 1939, at the beginning of World War II, Álvaro Matias attended a French doctor exiled in Portugal, using its rudimentary knowledge of the French language. From that day, Dr. Bayard became a frequent customer and, over time, he would become a close friend of Álvaro’s. In his spare time, the apprentice was a tourist guide to the French, his wife and daughter, showing them the wonders of the city of Lisbon. In return, the doctor gave him French lessons.
Over the five years he spent in Lisbon, however, Dr. Bayard’s economic situation worsened and Álvaro Matias started helping him with essential products – bread, butter and rice – which were scarce due to the war, and even with part of his income. When the conflict ended, the French doctor and his family returned to France, but not without first thanking their Portuguese friend with the most valuable asset they had: the recipe of “Dr. Bayard’s pectoral cough drops”, kept inside a small round can, with the drawing of a face coughing.
In 1949, after resorting to the help of a professional manufacturer, he started the homemade manufacture of the pectorals cough drops, with the help of his wife and a sister. The success of the cough drops with Dr. Bayard’s signature and original drawings was almost immediate and the production quickly exceeded six kilos per day. The demand for cough and throat irritation drops increased and, with its success, the recipe was perfected, the quantities were adjusted and the business was thriving.
1914 – Birth of Álvaro Justino Matias in Vale da Mula, village of the municipality of Almeida, district of Guarda.
1930 – With only 16 years of age, Álvaro Matias left his homeland and heads to Lisbon, looking for opportunities that would allow him to have a better life.
1939 – While working as an apprentice in a grocery store in Rua da Prata, downtown Lisbon, he meets Dr. Bayard, a French doctor exiled in Portugal due to World War II. The apprentice and the doctor become close friends. Álvaro Matias helps the Bayard family as a tourist guide and, in return, the doctor gave him French lessons. During the stay of Dr. Bayard in Portugal, Álvaro Matias even helps him to get the essential goods, like bread, butter and rice.
1944 – At the end of World War II, Dr. Bayard and his family returned to France. As a thank you, they give Álvaro Matias a metal can with a recipe for some medicinal drops inside, who had great success in his country to cure the cough and throat irritations.
1949 – Álvaro Matias starts producing these cough drops at home, with the help of his family. On the packaging, Dr. Bayard’s signature and drawing of a person coughing are true to the papers left by the French doctor.
1969 – Twenty years after the first homemade productions, Álvaro Matias buys the first industrial machines and establishes the Dr. Bayard’s Cough Drops Factory on a small street in Amadora.
2007 – Álvaro Matias’ children inherit the position of their parents, and José António Matias takes over the management of Dr. Bayard’s, with the collaboration of his children and niece, maintaining the family tradition, thus making the business last, just like the cough drops, “from generation to generation”.
2016 – Dr. Bayard launches the online store with worldwide deliveries.
In 1969, Álvaro Matias bought the first industrial machine and installed it in Dr. Bayard’s cough drops factory, which, to this day, remains in the same place. Located on a small street in Amadora, Dr. Bayard’s cough drops factory remains a family business and the production of the cough drops is continued by the founder’s son, José António Matias, and his grandchildren.
Dr. Bayard’s cough drops formula remains unchanged since the first productions and the recipe handed over by Dr. Bayard to Álvaro Matias remains, until today, carefully stored, inside the metal can that encloses the memory of a product with therapeutic qualities known and recognized for its quality.
The secret of Dr. Bayard’s cough drops lies in the blend of ingredients and its therapeutic qualities, and the tuning of the machines, which define certain temperatures and drying times.
