British Chocolate Manufacturers Essay Example for Free

British Chocolate Manufacturers Essay After reading The History of Chocolate by Diner’s Digest it is easy to understand that the main idea of the story is about the history of chocolate. For example, how it all started and how it changed over the years. The history of chocolate a beverage and ended in a bar. To begin with the history of chocolate all started with the Olmecs, an ancient civilization, in southern Mexico which thrived from 1500 B.C. to 400 B.C. Then it got passed along to the Mayan civilization. The Mayans used chocolate mainly as a drink. They usually flavored it with herbs, spices, or even chili. Then they shaked it back and forth to make it foamy. Next came the Aztecs, they thought the beverage was beneficial to warriors in battle. Another way cocoa was used was in currency. There was an official Aztec document saying a list of price equivalents. Next, a descendant of Mayans, the Kekchi Mayans presented crates of chocolate to Prince Philip. It was all frothed and ready to drunk by the Europeans. When Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus classified the â€Å"cocoa bean† he gave it the scientific name of Theobroma which meant â€Å"food of the gods’† in Greek. Another manufacturer, Coenrad Van Houten, produced a way for making chocolate powder. He did it using hydraulic pressure to remove the natural fat from it. Then that produced a hard cake which was crushed into powder. This was then mixed with water to make a chocolate drink. Next came the Joseph Fry Son, British chocolate manufacturers, which was founded by a Quaker. The Quaker was a doctor before finding that company. In 1847 they discovered a way of converting melted cocoa butter to â€Å"Dutched† cocoa butter (which was sweetened). This would create a paste that would be pressed into molds. This created a bar that turned to be a big hit. Last Daniel Peter (Swiss Chocolate Manufacturer) unsuccessfully repeatedly tried to make a milk flavored chocolate. But in 1867 Henri Nestle created the first milk chocolate bar. The milk’s low water content, that he made, made it possible to not spoil in storage. Another company named Celia’s Confections produced chocolate covered cherries. But the military put 3-4 chocolate bars in soldier’s â€Å"D-ration†. It was meant to sustain the soldier. The chocolate bar came to be associated with peace. Today chocolate is a major industry in the world. Americans consume 3.1 billion pounds of chocolate. That’s 11.7 pounds per person! To sum it up the Olmecs found chocolate. Throughout the years it got changed and passed along to many civilizations. This is the the history of chocolate.