Key Technological Developments
In much the same way that lowering duties imposed on cocoa beans boosted demand in the mid 18th century, a series of technological developments in processing cocoa greatly augmented consumption of the bean. One of the first innovations was the development of a press to separate part of the cocoa butter from the beans which led to the manufacturing of cocoa powder and chocolate as we have come to know it and love it today. However, it wasn’t until 1828 when the cocoa press was invented by Conrad Van Houten of Holland that chocolate as we know it today truly developed. Van Houten engineered the cocoa press to produce a cocoa powder with only half of the original fat and this, added to a mix of roasted cocoa beans and sugar, made it easy to mould. This evolution of chocolate made it possible to eat chocolate, which was first marketed during the middle of the 19th century. Up until this point in history, chocolate was only a drink.
The second important technological innovation in the chocolate industry was the invention of milk chocolate where milk solids were mixed with cocoa mass and sugar. This was invented by M.D. Peter of Vevey in Switzerland and was first produced in 1876. It is now milk chocolate that forms the backbone of the chocolate industry up until current times.