Who invented chocolate?
A question I take for granted is: who invented chocolate? The answer might seem obvious to some, while most people stammer off things such as The Swiss, The Belgians, The Mexicans, or… Gene Wilder"? I have encountered thousands of people over the years in my tastings and classes, and it always surprises me how far off some people are when it comes to understanding where chocolate had its beginnings.
As someone who has been in the industry for a long time, one can take for granted what the general public has come to understand. That’s one thing I love about being more involved with the public than with those in the industry, is I have a first hand experience with the customers the fine chocolate industry is trying to reach. With this, I have a chance to sprinkle some insight and chocolate facts, along with sharing incredible bean-to-bar chocolate with them.
The answer to “who invented chocolate?” is two part. The first part is: we don’t know exactly. The second part is: the English. That’s your answer, but allow me to unpack it a bit for you.
First, I will list off a few of the places people assume chocolate was invented (some with good reason) and perhaps why they are thought of as the birthplace of chocolate.
Who did not invent chocolate
Switzerland
Switzerland usually tops the list when I ask people in my tasting. Switzerland has made a name for itself since the late 19th Century. They invented the conche which made chocolate the smooth texture we love today. They also invented milk chocolate. I mean, who doesn’t love milk chocolate?! Chocolate snobs don’t, but let’s ignore them for now. Both of these chocolate innovations (the conche and milk chocolate) came about in the same year of 1879. From there on, Switzerland became world renowned for their chocolate, and that still rings true today. However, how much of it is based on true quality, and how much is riding the coat tail of past gains?
Switzerland was, at one point, the epicenter of the best chocolate in the world. Today? Well, just like most great things, it must come to an end. Don’t get me wrong, when it comes to couverture (chocolate that chocolatiers use to make confections) Switzerland still produces some good quality (Such as Felchlin - which is much better quality than say, Callebaut, although nothing compared to high quality craft chocolate). However, nearly all the chocolate Switzerland produces today is commercial grade. Be it, better quality in my opinion than Hershey or Cadbury, but still commercial nonetheless.
Today they are still known to manufacture chocolate very well. In fact, some craft “bean-to-bar” makers in Europe (who really are private label brands) source good cacao, and go to a reputable chocolate manufacturer in Switzerland to turn the beans into chocolate. This is because they know they will get a good quality, smooth, product. More on private label another time though.
With all that said, Switzerland did not invent chocolate. A few thousands years to late to be a candidate. So let’s move on
Belgium
This is often tied to Switzerland as the epicenter of chocolate, but again, one cannot be more wrong. Belgium rose to prominence soon after Switzerland, but followed the same fate. Some incredible brands (Godiva?) doing great work, becoming so large that quality would inevitable dip to a more standard commercial grade and nothing worth dishing out the big bucks for.
I know some people who swear by Belgian chocolate. Truth is, just as a fine chocolate maker can be found anywhere in the world where a skilled maker gets their hands on some fine cacao, the same can be true in Belgian. However, I would be highly suspicious of Belgian brands, especially ones you can find at a local high end grocery store or airport duty free.
Belgium did not start making chocolate until after the mid 17th Century, so to late in the game to be the inventor.
France
France has had respect for fine chocolate for a long time. In my opinion, since chocolate entered Europe, the French (as a whole, not all companies) have seemed to push for standards in chocolate that other countries (Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Germany, England) seemed to be more passive about over time. Again, these are generalizations, as there were often pockets or small makers in various countries who did keep standards high, but are less well known or have since disappeared.
When I got into fine chocolate, much of it was coming from France. France was making a name for itself in the fine chocolate world in the later part of the 20th Century. This was before the big surge of craft makers occurred in the USA and other countries around the world.
Today, some of these French chocolate brands I still consider up there in regards to texture, and sometimes in flavour. If they don’t make the list of top fine chocolate, they certainly due as a couverture (high-end chocolate for chocolatiers). However, just like many countries in Europe, their taste for chocolate is much more subtle and traditional than what some of us are used to now in the craft bean-to-bar chocolate world.
Again, France didn’t receive chocolate until the mid 17th Century, so still too late to be considered an inventor of chocolate.
Africa
Image by Seyiram Kweku
This one does not surprise me, since today, Africa grows and cures over 70-75% of the worlds cacao beans. Many of the famous chocolate manufacturers in Switzerland, Belgium, France, and USA use cacao from Western Africa to make their chocolate.
However, cacao did not arrive in Africa until the the later part of the 19th Century, and wasn’t successful until the end of the 19th Century via countries such as the island of Bioko (off the coast of Cameroon) in 1854, Nigeria in 1874, and Ghana in 1879.
And although Africa today produces nearly 3/4 of the world’s supply of cacao, rarely is any of the chocolate manufactured on the continent of Africa. There are many reasons for this we won’t go into here. We are beginning to see some small bean to bar manufactures pop up (some owned/run by out of continent business, and some locally owned and run). You can find some of these craft chocolate makers on the Bean To Bar World Map App!
Gene Wilder
Who? He is the actor who played Willy Wonka in the Chocolate Factory Film in 1971. It’s safe to assume, without going into detail, that he did not invent chocolate. Neither did Johnny Depp.
Mexico
This is actually a good guess, and a fair assumption. Much of this history we know about chocolate dates back to people who lived in what is now present day Mexico. The Mayans and Aztecs are two of the most famous civilizations associated with chocolate. However, those civilizations definitely did not invent chocolate.
Keep in mind, that #1-4 we were talking about chocolate as we know it today. A chocolate bar, which melts in your mouth into a creamy mess. When it comes to Mexico, and the history of its people with chocolate, we are talking about a very different chocolate product. We are talking about drinking chocolate. A water based drink made with ground up cacao beans mixed with other ingredients, and taken as a drink. This was the first chocolate product, and it was a drink. However, the Mayans and Aztec did not invent this, although they did adopt it from other cultures and carry it on.
A while back I would have agreed with you that some people in what is now Mexico did likely invent chocolate. Perhaps earlier people such as the Olmecs or the Mokaya of S. Mexico. However, it is now known that cacao was domesticated and consumed (most likely as a drink) as early as 3500 BC somewhere much farther south that I will explain under “So, who did invent chocolate?”
Brazil
Another good guess and assumption. However, Although cacao is endemic to the Northern Amazon (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru), we don’t’ have evidence of chocolate consumption or chocolate making in Brazil like we do in Ecuador.
Keep in mind we are talking about a time where present day countries in S. America didn’t exist. Chocolate could very well have been invented in what is present day Brazil, or Colombia, but the earliest evidence we have today points to present day Ecuador. Again, it was within this Northern Amazon region of South America. So, it could very well be a people who existed in what is present day Brazil, and it would not surprise me in the least if evidence turns up that confirms chocolate was invented in Brazil, but no such evidence exists yet.
So, who did invent chocolate?
There are two answers depending on whether you are talking about chocolate in its original form, or chocolate as we know it today.
People in South America. We don’t know exactly who.
These are the people who invented chocolate, as a drink, as it existed for most of its history. For a long time many people knew cacao was endemic to S. America, but they believed that chocolate (as a drink) was invented in Mexico, where cacao was brought over thousands of years earlier from S. America. However, as Mentioned in #6, more research has voided this idea, and has given us reason to believe chocolate was invented where cacao was endemic to: South America.
This may seem obvious to most, but since there was not much information on cacao within the past cultures of the Northern Amazon, we couldn’t confirm this. There were also theories to understand this lack of evidence that perhaps the Amazon didn’t really allow for cacao to be dried well as it can in Mexico since it was too humid, rainy, and wet in the Amazon region. Part of the process of processing cacao beans is drying them out, roasting them, and then grinding them into chocolate.
As more information and research comes out, I will let you all know via my research blog. However, for the time being, it’s safe to assume chocolate was likely invented by people in the area of North West Brazil, Northern Peru, Ecuador, or Southern Colombia. This pre-dates Aztecs, Mayans, Olmecs, and others. So which people? We don’t know yet which people for sure invented it, and we may never know. As of today, the earliest evidence we have of humans consuming cacao and likely chocolate is found in pottery with traces of the alkaloids found in chocolate which dates back to around 3500 BC. The site this was excavated from is called Santa Ana-La Florida, and is based in Southern Ecuador. The people who lived there have been called by researchers the “Mayo-Chinchipe”. So, the earliest evidence we have of humans consuming chocolate is the Mayo Chinchipe of Southern Ecuador, but it does not mean they invented it. We can safely assume it was invented somewhere in South America, over 5000 years ago.
The English
The English? How can that be if chocolate didn’t arrive in Europe until the 16th Century? Chocolate started off as a drink, much like coffee or tea. It was a drink for thousands of years in South and Central America (and Southern Mexico), and it was a drink for hundreds of years in Europe after it first arrived via Spain.
However, the English changed all that in 1847, when they invented the first chocolate bar or tablet. From this point on, chocolate was consumed not only as a drink, but also as a solid eating bar. The English invented chocolate as we know it today, and some might say the Swiss perfected it.
How did this come to be? You can learn more about the history of chocolate in the Bean To Bar World Academy, a free online resource.
So there is your answer. We don’t know, and the English. Not the most glamourous answer, but the best answer we have to date.