The pioneers of chocolate

DATES

1776, the first machine for grinding cocoa mechanically: This is a hydraulic, a revolution!

1825, the first chocolate factory in the industrial world: Noisiel-sur-Marne (Seine-et-Marne), Antoine Menier Chocolate Factory installs the first industrial worldwide.

1828 1st patent chocolate powder: Conrad J. Van Houten filed his patent chocolate powder.

1847 the first chocolate bar casting is created. The addition of cocoa butter makes the dough more pliable, allowing it to be poured into molds.

1875, Nestlé launched the first milk chocolate crunch.

1923 the first chocolate bar is sold in the United States, Minneapolis, by Frank Mars.
On the eve of the Industrial Revolution, the 1820s marked the debut of "Chocolate for all".

Men enthusiasts have embarked on the adventure, and even today some of their names are part of our daily lives. Through their research and perseverance, the first chocolate for the elite is now accessible to everyone in the world ...

Founder of a dynasty chocolate, Antoine-Brutus Menier (1795-1853), chemist specializing in powder and flour, also sells chocolate in the form of tablets wrapped in yellow paper.

His son, Emile-Justin - who is nicknamed the Baron Cocoa - gives the factory paternal Noisiel expanded considerably from 1850. Twenty years later, he transforms the plant - which employs 2,000 employees - in a real city which can accommodate the "chocolate", a nickname given to workers. By the early twentieth century, the Menier chain is fully automated, allowing a large number of manufacturing tablets and chocolate products.

Greed is democratized, it is no longer the preserve of an elite.

Dutchman Van Houten chocolate manufacturer in Amsterdam, invented in 1828, the solubilization of cocoa. A new process to extract the beans ground most of their fat - cocoa butter. After crushing and sieving, the remaining part gives the cocoa powder.

Rodolphe Lindt (1855 -1909) filed a patent in 1879 marked the creation of chocolate. Using a mechanical agitation, this process "conching" can give the chocolate all its finesse and aroma.

Henri Nestlé (1814-1890) broke by accident in the history of chocolate. Through the process of condensing milk he invented the Swiss chemist in 1875 allows the invention of milk chocolate.

The Englishman, Charles Barry, in 1842 develops an activity of trading in London. A cocoa processing plant in Meulan born in the early twentieth century.
Wholesale of food, the Swiss Charles Amédée Kohler discovered the chocolate hazelnut in 1830.

Very young, Philippe Suchard chocolate interested. At twelve, by going to the chemist to buy a pound of chocolate for her sick mother, he discovered shocked, it costs three days of wages of a worker. In 1825, he then between 25 and 30 kg of chocolate per day with a single worker. The famous Chocolate Suchard was born. Later, in 1901, came the invention of the famous milk chocolate in purple packaging.

In 1884, Albert Poulain invented in turn sold 5 cents a product that will revolutionize morning habits of millions of children, the "breakfast vanilla cream" (the forerunner of the famous "sprayed" in the orange box).



In 1912, Jean Neuhaus created the praline and launches in Europe its generous shelves, powerful taste, adorned with the famous elephant trumpeting.
After the first world war, Charles Callebaut is due the clever idea to give chocolate, not chocolate cake, but as a hot liquid carried in tankers. Cheaper process, which has been generalized.

In 1923, Franck Mars invented and launched in Chicago, the first chocolate bar, creating a new way to eat chocolate, more convenient and more fun. A new market was born: chocolate confectionery!