The Industrialisation of Chocolate Manufacture - 1700-1875
Up to the 18th Century the manufacture of chocolate was a very labour intensive manual process. As with many other industries, the 18th and 19th Centuries saw a revolution in how chocolate was processed. In 1729 the first mechanical cocoa grinder was invented in Bristol. Previously cocoa had been ground manually using a pestle and mortar, the new grinder used a water engine . The patent for this grinder was bought by J. S. Fry & Sons in 1761, which marked the beginning of one of the most famous chocolate companies in the world. Wind-powered and horse-drawn mills were soon introduced as well, helping to speed up production.
In 1815, Dutch chemist Coenraad van Houten introduced alkaline salts to chocolate, which reduced its bitterness. A few years later, in 1828, he created a press to remove about half the natural fat (cacao butter) from chocolate liquor. This left behind a “cake” which could be broken down into cocoa powder. Before he invented his press cocoa butter was removed from chocolate by repeatedly boiling the chocolate and skimming the cocoa butter off the top where it would form a sort of scum layer. The cocoa press made chocolate both cheaper to produce and more consistent in quality. Known as “Dutch cocoa”, this machine-pressed chocolate was instrumental in the transformation of chocolate to its solid form when in 1847 Joseph Fry learned to make chocolate mouldable by adding melted cacao butter back into the Dutch cocoa.
In 1879, the texture and taste of chocolate was further improved when Rodolphe Lindt invented the conching process. Conching is simply the process of continuing to grind the chocolate for up to 3 days after the initial grind is complete. The grinding process heats the chocolate up, so not only is the chocolate ground extra finely, but the heat boils volatile chemical compounds off, changing the flavour. Allegedly conching was invented when Lindt accidently left his grinders running overnight when he went home one day, and realised his chocolate tasted even better the following morning.
New Forms - 1875-1945
Milk had sometimes been used as an addition to chocolate drinks since the mid-17th century, but in 1875 Daniel Peter worked out how to create a solid milk chocolate by mixing a powdered milk developed by Henri Nestlé with cocoa liquor. Peter’s chocolate is still available to buy. Nestlé themselves did not start chocolate manufacture until 1904.
Many other big names in the chocolate world had their start in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Cadbury was manufacturing boxed chocolates in England by 1868. In 1893 Milton S. Hershey purchased chocolate processing equipment at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago and soon began making chocolate-coated caramels.
As a result of cultivation shifting from Central America to Africa and Asia, and continuing industrialisation, the price of chocolate began to drop dramatically in the 1890s and 1900s. It underwent a transformation from being primarily a drink to a food, and the middle classes were able to afford it for the first time. This led to a boom in chocolate advertising which tended to target women who “were charged with providing wholesome cocoa for respectable consumption within the family”. Most adverts were aimed at housewives and mothers, with a smaller number focussing on chocolate’s role in courtship.
In 1935 Rowntree launched the Kit Kat, but it was originally called Chocolate Crisp. It was renamed Kit Kat in 1937. Also in 1937 the US army introduced a bar called the D-Ration to their rations, it was specially designed to not melt in high temperature warzones, it contained almost 3000 calories, enough to keep a soldier going for a day, and came in a poison gas proof wrapper!
Recent Developments - 1945 to today
In 1945 chocolate was accidently responsible for the invention of the microwave oven when a researcher working on radar noticed that the chocolate bar in his pocket melted when a radar device called a magnatron was turned on.
Chocolate reached the top of the world in 1959 when Tenzig Norgay left an offering on the top of Everest. And in 1969 it went even further when it travelled to the moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission.
The 90’s saw the rise of the craft chocolate industry, with many small artisan manufacturers appearing, producing single origin and single estate chocolates. The larger manufacturers also innovated, with Valrhona releasing the first Blonde (or Gold) chocolate in 2012. It was allegedly invented when some white chocolate was left over a bain-marie for too long, cooking it. Callebaut released Ruby chocolate is 2017 which is made from unfermented cocoa beans with a naturally reddish pink colour. And in 2022 Cacao Barry released Whole Fruit, a new chocolate where the sugar in the chocolate is derived from the pulp in the cocoa pod rather than more traditional sugar beet or sugar cane.
