Chocolate History

Here's a little about Chocolate History!

• The tasty secret of the cacao bean tree was first discovered about 2,000 years ago in the tropical rainforests of the South America.

• The first people known to have made chocolate were the ancient cultures of Mexico and Central America.

• Europe’s first contact with chocolate came during the conquest of Mexico in 1521. Explorers brought back the valuable cacao beans to Spain.

• When the Spanish brought cacao home, they tempered the bitter brew with cinnamon and other spices and began sweetening it with sugar.

• Initially, cacao and sugar were very expensive and only those with money could afford to drink the chocolate mixture.

• In France, chocolate was only for members of the royal court.

• By the 1800s, mass production made solid chocolate candy affordable to a much broader public.

• In 1868, Richard Cadbury introduced the first box of chocolate.

• In 1870, Daniel Peter and Henri Nestle developed the world's first milk chocolate bar.

• In 1893, Milton Hershey bought a chocolate making machine and opened a factory to manufacture and sell chocolate.