Chocolate Time Line

The origin of Chocolate: Amazon or Orinoco basin of South America approximately 4000 years ago.

From the very early days of cocoa the peoples of Central America used beans as a form of payment.

1000 From the very early days of cocoa the peoples of Central America used beans as a form of payment. The use of cocoa beans as units of calculation must also have become established before A.D. 1000.

1502 First European contact with Cocoa Beans (4th voyage of Christopher Columbus.)

Early 1700s The industrial revolution mechanizes chocolate making and brings the price within the public's reach. Chocolate houses start to spring up in England to compete with coffeehouses. (Chocolate at this point was consumed as a liquid beverage, not as a confection.)

1828 Conrad Van Houten, a Dutch chemist, learns to press cocoa butter out of chocolate liquor. This then allows the production of cocoa powder.

1848 Conrad Van Houten adds cocoa butter and sugar to chocolate liquor and "eating chocolate" was created.

1852 Domingo Ghirardelli establishes his first chocolate factory in San Francisco.

1875 Daniel Peter and Henri Nestle combine chocolate and milk powder and create the first Milk Chocolate Bar.

1879 Rodolphe Lindt produces chocolate that melts on the tongue. He develops the "conching" process that gives chocolate a smoother texture.

1965 San Francisco declares Ghirardelli Square an official city landmark.