The History of Chocolate | Where does Chocolate Come From? (2024)

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The History of Chocolate | Where does Chocolate Come From? ›

The history of chocolate begins its 4,000 years of history in ancient Mesoamerica, present day Mexico and the birthplace of chocolate. It's here that the first cacao plants, the plant which chocolate is made from, were found.

The history of chocolate, and its creation from the beans of the cacao tree, can be traced to the ancient Maya, and even earlier to the ancient Olmecs of southern Mexico.

1565: The first record of how the cocoa drink is prepared was found in the notes of Benzoni, an explorer working for the Spanish army. The Spanish kept this secret from the rest of the world, with the hope they could keep their monopoly on the cocoa trade.

Adopting the Mesoamerican chocolate drink as their own, the Spanish were the first to sweeten the drink with cane sugar and cinnamon. However, the delicacy was only available to royalty and the elite, because the chocolate was at that time considered a symbol of luxury, power, and wealth.

Initially dark and bitter-tasting, nonetheless this innovation revolutionised the consumption of chocolate and confectionary in general. In 1875 a Swiss chocolate manufacturer, Daniel Peter, added condensed milk to his recipe, making the first milk chocolate bars of pleasing flavour and texture.

The cocoa bean was first domesticated at least 5,300 years ago in what is present-day southeast Ecuador (Zamora-Chinchipe Province) by the Mayo-Chinchipe culture, before being introduced in Mesoamerica. Originally prepared as a drink, chocolate was served as a bitter liquid, mixed with spices or corn puree.

Colonist planted cacao in Brazil, the Caribbean, the Philippines and Indonesia, turning it into a global industry. These colonial plantations ran on the labour of thousands of enslaved Africans, brought into captivity to meet the European market's increased demand for chocolate.

Fry & Sons and currently manufactured by Cadbury. Launched in 1866—nineteen years after Fry's created the first moulded, solid chocolate eating bar (in 1847)— Fry's Chocolate Cream is the first mass-produced chocolate bar and is the world's oldest chocolate bar brand.

World's oldest chocolate was made 5300 years ago—in a South American rainforest.

What ethnicity eats the most chocolate? ›

Switzerland holds the distinction of consuming the most chocolate per capita. The Swiss are renowned for their love of chocolate, a reputation well-supported by statistics showing their high consumption levels.

The abolition of the transatlantic slave trade and the colonial indenture system did not end slavery in chocolate production. Despite major brands vowing to stop using cocoa harvested by children two decades ago, child labour in modern day chocolate production is unfortunately still a huge problem.

Most of the world's cocoa is produced in West Africa

The world produces nearly 6 million tonnes of cocoa beans each year. Almost two-thirds of this comes from West Africa. Most of the rest is produced in South America and Asia. Production is even more concentrated within West Africa.

Originally consumed as a bitter drink, it was prized as both an aphrodisiac and an energy booster. Mankind's love affair with chocolate stretches back more than five millennia.

Its origins stretch back thousands of years to the early Mesoamerican cultures of North, Central and South America, where the cacao tree is native. The word “chocolate” itself is believed to be derived from the Aztec word “xocoatl,” which referred to the bitter drink consumed by the Aztec people.

Did they drink chocolate hot or cold? Surprisingly, the Aztecs preferred it cold, whilst the Maya preferred it hot! This is a gross over-simplification, but there clearly were cultural differences.

The ancient Olmec civilization—one of the first in Mexico—cultivated cacao beans as early as 1750 BC. Who invented chocolate? You could say that the Aztecs did—they created the first chocolate suitable for consumption. For most of chocolate history, it was something to drink, not eat.

Mainly consumed as an unheated liquid by the Aztecs and generally heated by the Maya, chocolate was the drink of choice for the elites and with the addition of hot chilies, maize, spices, peanut butter, vanilla and other flavor and texture enhancers, made the chocolate beverage a spicy and sultry drink enjoyed only by ...

Guatemala is considered to be the birth place of chocolate! History says the first chocolate bar was created by the Mayans before it became an industrialized good in Britain and other countries. The Mayans believed chocolate was a 'food of the gods'.

It Started in Mexico

As early as 500 BC, the Mayans were drinking chocolate made from ground-up cocoa seeds mixed with water, cornmeal, and chili peppers (as well as other ingredients)—a much different version from the hot chocolate we know today.