What do you do when an innovation threatens to put you out of business? Daniel Peter, who was born in 1836, was a Swiss man who ran a candlestick-making business with his brother Julien in Vevey, Switzerland. In the early nineteenth century, candles were the primary source of lighting at night, so business was good.
In 1859, Colonel Drake of Pennsylvania had discovered oil and that led to the development of kerosene and kerosene lamps. These were introduced to Switzerland in the mid-1860s and their popularity caused a significant drop in the demand for candles.
The Peter brothers had a problem. They had a factory that could pour liquid candle wax into moulds, but demand for candles was falling. Julien decided to stay in the candle business, but Daniel wanted to use some of the equipment and his skills in a different endeavour. He decided to pour chocolate instead of wax. He studied chocolate making and started his own business.
At that time, chocolate was dark and bitter. Daniel Peter tried to develop a softer chocolate by adding milk, but he found great difficulty in removing the water from the milk. His experiments ended with mildew forming on the chocolate or with a rancid product. Eventually, he heard of a neighbour in the same town who had developed a condensed milk as a baby food. That man’s name was Henri Nestlé. Using condensed milk, together they were able to perfect a method for the manufacture of milk chocolate. In 1887, after many unsuccessful experiments, Daniel Peter developed the original formula for what was to become the first successful milk chocolate in the world. He called his product Gala after the Greek word meaning ‘from the milk’. In 1879, the pair formed the Nestlé Company. Their new product proved immensely popular around the world.
In 1896, Daniel Peter formed the association of Swiss Chocolatiers and, in 1904, several companies merged under the name of the Nestlé brand.
Daniel Peter continued to work in the Nestlé factory until his death in 1919.
Innovations destroy, even as they create. When innovation threatens your business, you must adapt or die. The threat of the destruction of his candle-making business was the spur for Daniel Peter to look for new ventures. What innovations or trends threaten your business today and what can you do about it?
Transfer your current skills to a new environment and open up new opportunities. Daniel Peter’s skill was in moulding liquids. He transferred this from candles to chocolate.
With whom can you collaborate who has the skills that you lack? By cooperating with Henri Nestlé, Daniel Peter was able to co-create a product that changed the flavour of chocolate around the world. Maybe you can find someone locally, as Daniel Peter did.