The Birth of the Chocolate Bar and Its Impact on the Confectionery Industry

The invention of the chocolate bar marked a transformative milestone in food history, reshaping how chocolate was produced, consumed, and commercialized. Before the mid-19th century, chocolate was primarily consumed as a rich, spiced beverage reserved for the elite due to its complex preparation and high cost. This changed in 1847 when British chocolatier Joseph Fry developed a technique to mix cocoa powder, sugar, and cocoa butter into a moldable paste. By increasing the proportion of cocoa butter, Fry produced the first solid chocolate bar—a portable, affordable, and enjoyable treat.

Fry’s innovation catalyzed a new era in chocolate manufacturing. In 1849, John Cadbury introduced his own version of the chocolate bar, drawing public attention to the potential of solid chocolate products. That year, both Fry and Cadbury presented their creations at a trade fair in Bingley Hall, Birmingham, marking the chocolate bar’s debut as a commercial product.

This development laid the groundwork for the modern confectionery industry. By the late 19th century, advancements in refining techniques and the introduction of milk chocolate by Daniel Peter and Henri Nestlé further expanded chocolate’s appeal. Mass production methods, improved packaging, and marketing strategies turned the chocolate bar into a global commodity.

Today, the chocolate industry is valued at over $100 billion, with the chocolate bar remaining its most iconic product. Innovations such as fair-trade sourcing, plant-based formulations, and sustainable packaging continue to shape its future. What began as a Victorian-era invention has become a staple of global culture, thanks to Fry’s breakthrough in turning a luxury drink into a universally beloved snack.
The Birth of the Chocolate Bar and Its Impact on the Confectionery Industry

History of Hershey candies

Milton S. Hershey was born on September 13, 1857, in a farmhouse near the Central Pennsylvania village of Derry Church. Following a four-year apprenticeship with a Lancaster candy maker, Milton Hershey established his first candy making business in Philadelphia. In 1883, Hershey established the Lancaster Caramel Company, which quickly became an outstanding success.

After seeing German-made chocolate-processing machinery at the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago, Hershey decided to go into the chocolate business. He bought the equipment for his Lancaster plant and soon began producing a variety of chocolate creations.

Milton Hershey had learned, during his travels in Denver, Colorado, how to use fresh milk to make caramels—a unique strategy he later employed at his Lancaster Caramel Company. He also wanted to use this technique for his milk chocolate.

In 1894, Milton started the Hershey Chocolate Company and produced Hershey chocolate caramels, breakfast cocoa, sweet chocolate, and baking chocolate.

Hershey sold the Lancaster Caramel Co. for $1 million in 1900 in order to concentrate exclusively on his chocolate business. In 1900, the company began producing milk chocolate in bars, wafers and other shapes. With mass production, Hershey was able to lower the per-unit cost and make milk chocolate, once a luxury item for the wealthy, affordable to all.

Business was so successful that in 1903 Hershey started work on a new factory in Derry Township, Pennsylvania.

In 1907, Hershey begins manufacturing Hershey's Chocolate Kisses. In 2015, Hershey's overhauled its recipe to reduce the amount of genetically modified ingredients in its chocolate.
History of Hershey candies

History of cocoa press

During eighteenth century, chocolate was still consumed in liquid form and was mainly sold as pressed blocks of a grainy mass to be dissolved in water or milk to form chocolate drink.

And the biggest problem with the drink was its unpleasant oily taste from the vegetable fat in cocoa beans.

The mass production of these chocolate blocks also began in the eighteenth century when the British Fry family founded the first chocolate factory in 1728 using hydraulic equipment to grind the cocoa beans.

In United States chocolate was first manufactured in1765 by John Hanan and physician James Baker. They opened the first chocolate factory at Milton Lower Mills, Massachusetts.

The production of cocoa and chocolate was truly revolutionized in 1828 by the invention a cocoa press developed by Coenraad Van Houten which succeeded in separating cocoa solid from cocoa butter. This process made chocolate both more consistent and less expensive to produce.

This was a much more effective way to remove the oily butter than boiling and skimming it from the nibs.

In this process, the alkalized nibs are dried, roasted and pressed hydraulically to yield cocoa butter and press cake that still contains up to 20% butter fat for drinking chocolate and some of 10% for industrial applications.

The resulting defatted cocoa powder was much easier to dissolve in water and other liquids and paved the way in 1847, for the invention of the first real ‘eating chocolate’, produced from the addition of coca butter and sugar to cocoa liquid.

In 1847, Fry & Sons Company of Bristol, England, introduced the first chocolate bar meant for eating as a snack.

In the process, the company first pressed some chocolate liquor to extract the cocoa butter. Then they blended this butter back into unpressed chocolate liquor to make a creamy, solid chocolate candy.

The invention of cocoa press brought down the price of chocolate and improved the taste of drinking chocolate by squeezing out cocoa butter.
History of cocoa press