Chocolate or cocoa is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civilization, and later Mesoamerican civilizations also consumed chocolate beverages before being introduced to Europe in the 16th century.
Fair trade is a term for an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and environmental standards. The movement focuses in particular on commodities, or products that are typically exported from developing countries to developed countries but is also used in domestic markets, most notably for handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, wine, sugar, fruit, flowers and gold.
The cocoa bean or simply cocoa, also called cacao, is the dried and fully fermented seed of Theobroma cacao, from which cocoa solids and cocoa butter can be extracted. Cocoa beans native to the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest are the basis of chocolate and Mesoamerican foods including tejate, an indigenous Mexican drink.
Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International since 2010. It is the second-largest confectionery brand in the world, after Mars. Cadbury is internationally headquartered in Greater London, and operates in more than 50 countries worldwide. It is known for its Dairy Milk chocolate, the Creme Egg and Roses selection box, and many other confectionery products. One of the best-known British brands, in 2013 The Daily Telegraph named Cadbury among Britain's most successful exports.
The Hershey Company, often called just Hershey or Hershey's, is an American multinational confectionery company headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States, which is also home to Hersheypark and Hershey's Chocolate World. The Hershey Company is one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world; it also manufactures baked products, such as cookies and cakes, and sells beverages like milkshakes, as well as other products. The Hershey Company was founded by Milton S. Hershey in 1894 as the Hershey Chocolate Company, originally established as a subsidiary of his Lancaster Caramel Company. The Hershey Trust Company owns a minority stake but retains a majority of the voting power within the company.
Milk chocolate is a form of solid chocolate containing cocoa, sugar and milk. It is the most consumed type of chocolate, and is used in a wide diversity of bars, tablets and other confectionery products. Milk chocolate contains smaller amounts of cocoa solids than do dark chocolates, and contains milk solids. While its taste has been key to its popularity, milk chocolate was historically promoted as a healthy food, particularly for children.
J.H. Whittaker & Sons, Ltd (Whittaker's) is a confectionery manufacturer specialising in palm oil-free chocolate and based in Porirua, New Zealand. Whittaker's is the largest chocolate brand in New Zealand. Approximately 30% of their production is now exported. The company controls its entire manufacturing process in its facility in Porirua, identifying itself as a "bean-to-bar" manufacturer. James Henry Whittaker (1868–1947) started the business in Christchurch in 1896 and it was later moved to Wellington.
Milka is a Swiss brand of chocolate confectionery, originally made in Switzerland in 1901 by Suchard. It has been produced in Lörrach, Germany from 1901. Since 2012 it has been owned by US-based company Mondelez International, when it started following the steps of its predecessor Kraft Foods Inc., which had taken over the brand in 1990. It is sold in bars and a number of novelty shapes for Easter and Christmas. Products with the Milka brand also include chocolate-covered cookies and biscuits.
Divine Chocolate Limited is a British purveyor of Fairtrade chocolate. It was originally established in the UK in 1998 as a company limited by shares co-owned by the Kuapa Kokoo cocoa farmers' co-operative in Ghana, Twin Trading and The Body Shop, with support from Christian Aid and Comic Relief. The Body Shop subsequently handed their shares over to Kuapa Kokoo which increased Kuapa's share of Divine Chocolate Ltd from 33% to 45%
Freia is a Norwegian chocolate brand. The brand is known for Freia Melkesjokolade and Kvikk Lunsj, as well as for other candy and dessert products. The company was acquired by Mondelez International in 1993.
"Big Chocolate" is a business term assigned to multi-national chocolate food producers, akin to the terms "Big Oil," "Big Pharma," and "Big Tobacco".
J. S. Fry & Sons, Ltd., better known as Fry's, was a British chocolate company owned by Joseph Storrs Fry and his family. Beginning in Bristol in the 18th century, the business went through several changes of name and ownership, becoming J. S. Fry & Sons in 1822. In 1847, Fry's produced the first solid chocolate bar. The company also created the first filled chocolate sweet, Cream Sticks, in 1853. Fry is most famous for Fry's Chocolate Cream, the first mass-produced chocolate bar, which was launched in 1866, and Fry's Turkish Delight, launched in 1914.
Fry's Chocolate Cream is a chocolate bar developed by J. S. Fry & Sons and currently manufactured by Cadbury. Launched in 1866—nineteen years after Fry's created the first moulded, solid chocolate eating bar — Fry's Chocolate Cream is the first mass-produced chocolate bar and is the world's oldest chocolate bar brand.
Chocolate is a food product made from roasted and ground cocoa pods mixed with fat and powdered sugar to produce a solid confectionery. There are several types of chocolate, classified primarily according to the proportion of cocoa and fat content used in a particular formulation.
Côte d'Or is a producer of Belgian chocolate, owned by Mondelez International. Côte d'Or was founded in 1883 by Charles Neuhaus in Schaerbeek, Belgium, a chocolate manufacturer who used the name "Côte d'Or" referring to the old name of contemporary Ghana, the source of many of the cacao beans used in chocolate manufacturing.
Cadbury's Chocolate Factory is the largest chocolate factory in the Southern Hemisphere, producing a company-record of over 60,000 tonnes of chocolate in 2021. Established at Claremont, Tasmania in 1921, the factory and surrounding model village estate marked Cadbury's first business expansion outside the United Kingdom. Cadbury's Claremont is currently owned by the multinational conglomerate Mondelez International, which purchased Cadbury in 2010.
Craig Sams is a UK-based businessman and author.
Fair trade cocoa is an agricultural product harvested from a cocoa tree using a certified process which is followed by cocoa farmers, buyers, and chocolate manufacturers, and is designed to create sustainable incomes for farmers and their families. Companies that use fair trade certified cocoa to create products can advertise that they are contributing to social, economic, and environmental sustainability in agriculture.
Mondelez International, Inc., styled as Mondelēz International, is an American multinational confectionery, food, holding, beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual revenue of about $26.5 billion and operates in approximately 160 countries. It ranked No. 108 in the 2021 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.
Cadbury is a British multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelēz International. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mars. Cadbury is headquartered in Uxbridge, London, and operates in more than fifty countries worldwide. Its best known products include Dairy Milk chocolate.
