During the Revolutionary War, chocolate was provided to the military as rations and sometimes given to soldiers as payment instead of money. Does it surprise you to see chocolate being used as a currency during the Revolutionary War?

In 1847 the English firm of Fry and Sons combined cocoa butter with chocolate liquor and sugar to produce sweet (eating) chocolate paste —the base of most chocolate confectionary— The creation of the first modern chocolate bar is credited to Joseph Fry Sixty years later, the art of creating chocolate confections with flavored filling—referred to as pralines by their Belgian inventor, Jean Neuhaus II—went public. From there, the chocolate and cocoa industry exploded in popularity and quickly spread around the world.. Have you ever had....

Rival chocolatier Cadbury's, credited with pioneering the Valentine's Day Chocolate Box and Chocolate Easter Egg, followed suit. Soon after in 1854 Cadbury's earned a royal warrant as purveyors of chocolate to Queen Victoria. The history of the Royal Warrant can be traced back to medieval times, when competition for Royal favour was intense and the Monarch had the pick of the country's best tradespeople. By the 15th century, the Lord Chamberlain, as head of the Royal Household, formally appointed tradespeople with a Royal Warrant of Appointment – a practice that continues to this day. Were you aware, The Royal Warrant is granted by members of the British Royal family to fantastic companies or individuals who supply top-notch goods?

It was in Switzerland that chocolate production took one of its greatest leaps forward. In the 1870s, Swiss chocolatier Daniel Peter utilized powdered milk developed several years earlier by his neighbor Henri Nestlé to produce the first milk chocolate bar, and the pair eventually formed the Nestlé Company. Swiss chocolatier Rodolphe Lindt's 1879 invention of the conching machine—which used large stone rollers to mix and aerate chocolate to give it a velvety texture and superior taste—allowed for mass production of smooth, creamy milk chocolate. From the beginning of the 20th century the Nestlé company began diversifying. In 1904 it bought chocolate rights that would eventually result in products under the Peter, Kohler, Nestlé, and Cailler brands. Did you know Switzerland is the world's biggest consumer of chocolate today, eating 19.4 pounds per capita?

Chocolate, a food product made from cocoa beans, consumed as candy and used to make beverages and to flavour or coat various confections and bakery products. Rich in carbohydrates, it is an excellent source of quick energy, and it also contains minute amounts of the stimulating alkaloids theobromine and caffeine. According to research by Statista, retail sales of chocolate worldwide in 2019 totaled $103 billion, including almost $25 billion in the United States alone. While the cacao plant is native to the Americas, its cultivation has now shifted to Africa, which is now the source of more than two-thirds of worldwide cocoa production. Did you know it takes 400 cocao beans to make one pound of chocolate?