A Hasty History of Switzerland's Ample Chocolate Production

It is deemed that the Americans first used cocoa beans as a chocolate drink ingredient and as a currency, while Hernando Cortes, the conqueror of Mexico, became enthralled in cocoa beans and introduced the exotic beverage to the Spanish court. When the beans reached Europe, it was used predominantly to enliven the soldiers at war.

When Spaniards first tasted a chocolate drink, they did not like it, therefore, they added their choice ingredients to it to indulge their taste buds. However, chocolate was adapted in Europe as a pharmaceutical rather than a beverage. It was deemed to be nourishing and was praised for its capacity to relieve fever. The only moment that chocolate was appreciated as a fashionable drink was when King Louis XIII of France introduced it to the French court.

Finally, chocolate entered Switzerland when famous Zurich Mayor Heinrich Escher brought it from Brussels in 1600's. The first manufacturers of chocolates were two Italians, however, their firm failed, because people did not like the manufacture. Nevertheless, other chocolate factories were erected in Switzerland, and the first chocolate outlet in the country was built in Bern in 1792.

The major turning point of the chocolate enterprise happened in 1828 when Coenraad Johannes Van Houten designed a hydraulic press, which enhanced the quality of the chocolate drink. The cocoa butter, which is the by-product of Van Houten's press, made Joseph Fry make the toothsome solid chocolate that we have today. Chocolate bars gained their distinction in Switzerland, and many manufacturers became enthralled in creating variations.