History

1. Cacao originated in Central American around five thousand years ago.
2. The first people to harvest chocolate were the Mokaya, who lived in Mexico around three thousand years ago.
3. Aztec legend tells of how Quetzalcoatl, a God, was cast out of heaven for bringing cacao to earth and giving it to the humans.
4. The Mayans used chocolate in their marriage ceremonies and baptisms.
5. Mayan Emperors were buried with worldly goods to ensure they lived a good afterlife. Chocolate was often placed right next to their bodies!
6. Cacao beans were in fact one of America’s first ever exports - Columbus brought them back to Spain with him after his epic voyage!
7. It was only the advances of the industrial revolution that meant chocolate transitioned from being a luxury item only the very wealthiest could afford to a commodity affordable by the general public.
8. It was actually by accident that the process of conching (important in the production of chocolate as we know it today) was discovered, when Rodolphe Lindt’s assistant left a machine running all night by mistake.
9. The very first ever bar of chocolate (as we know it today) was made in 1842 by British company Cadburys.
10. The first ever chocolate chip cookie was invented by Ruth Wakefield, proprietor of the Toll House Inn in 1937. Since then, the name ‘Toll House’ is used across the world to refer to any chocolate chip cookie.