Who invented chocolate? Discover the history of cocoa, from ancient Olmec and Maya drinks to Joseph Fry’s invention of the first chocolate bar in 1847.
When I'm running my chocolate-making courses, I get to ask a lot of curious questions about chocolate making. One of the recent one was: "Who actually invented chocolate?"
It is a great question, but the answer is not as simple as pointing to one person. Most of us enjoy a bar without considering that its journey spans thousands of years. I wanted to find out exactly who we should thank for this discovery.
As it turns out, the history of chocolate is a relay race. It began with ancient civilisations in Central American rainforests and ended with Victorian engineers in British factories. Each of these "inventors" contributed a vital step to transform a bitter fruit into the smooth and delicious chocolate treat we know today.
The Verdict: Who Invented Chocolate?
The answer depends on whether you are thirsty or hungry. If you are looking for the original creators, the credit goes to the Olmec and Maya civilisations of ancient Mexico. Nearly 4,000 years ago, they "invented" the complex process of fermenting and roasting cacao beans to create the world's first chocolate drink.
However, if you are talking about the solid treat we buy at the newsagents, the inventor is the British Quaker Joseph Fry. In 1847, he was the first person to figure out how to mix cocoa butter and powder into a mouldable paste, creating the world's very first chocolate bar.
Essentially, the indigenous people of Central America gave us the secret to the bean, while Joseph Fry gave us the bar.
The Olmecs & Mayands: The discovery of cocoa tree in Central America (1500 BC & 250 AD)
While many credit the Maya, history goes back further to the Olmec civilisation in ancient Mexico (around 1500 BC). They were likely the first to ferment, roast, and grind cacao seeds.
Saying that, most experts credit the ancient Maya civilization that existed in modern Central America around 250 AD as the first inventors or originators of chocolate. This is because they were adept at harvesting the cacao pod which is the fruit of the cacao tree.
The Mayans developed a way of fermenting, roasting and then grinding the seeds of cacao pod. They probably used other local ingredients such as chilli peppers and cornmeal which was mixed with the cacao seed to form a paste. From this came what is believed to have been a frothy, cold, unsweeted and hence bitter, spicy chocolate drink.
This liquid chocolate formed an important part of Mayan religious and social festivals and cacoa beans were used as a form of currency as they were hard, durable and easy to store and transport.
Cocoa travels to Europe (1500s)
Hard on their heels, literally, came the Spanish explorers or Conquistadores of the 15th and 16th centuries. As well as gold, Spanish galleons brought back the cacao bean to the court of King Charles V and with it the knowledge of what was then a chocolate drink only.
European tastes varied and often the beans found their way into the storehouses of monasteries and monks may have helped develop/invent a chocolate drink that was now both sweet and hot.
Chocolate drinking houses (1700s)
So far we're still talking about chocolate as a drink only. And talking is what people frequently did when drinking chocolate in the increasing number of fashionable chocolate drinking houses that were established from the late 17th century onwards.
Cocoa tree gets it's botanical name
The scientific name Theobroma cacao was given to the species of the cacao tree by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1753, when he published it in his famous book Species Plantarum. Theobroma means 'food of the gods' in Latin.
The first step in creating chocolate - the invention of cocoa powder (1828)
We have to jump forward to around 1830 before chocolate started to take on a solid form. Industrialisation brought the means and the machinery as well as the money and the manpower to bring chocolate in a mass form to the masses.
A Dutchman, Coenraad van Houten, invented the cocoa press which squeezed out the cocoa butter separating it from the cocoa powder. This meant that the cocoa powder could now be easily extracted and produced much more cheaply.
The first dark chocolate bar is made in Europe (1847)
The title of "First Chocolate Bar Inventor" belongs to Joseph Fry, a Quaker from Bristol, England. The Fry family had been chocolate makers in Bristol since the 1700s, but they were mostly focused on cocoa powder for drinking.
In 1847, Joseph Fry discovered that by mixing melted cocoa butter back into cocoa powder and sugar, he created a paste that could be pressed into a mould. This was the birth of the world's first solid eating chocolate. He named his creation "Chocolate Delicieux à Manger" (Delicious Eating Chocolate).
Fry had been experimenting with different ratios for years. The "breakthrough" only happened because of Van Houten's earlier invention of the cocoa press, which gave Fry the extra cocoa butter he needed to make the paste mouldable.
To speed up production, the Fry family was the first chocolate company to use a Watt steam engine to grind their beans. They were the "tech giants" of their day.
His invention was so successful that in 1853, Fry & Sons were appointed the official chocolate makers to Queen Victoria.
Invention of first milk chocolate bar (1875)
The second half of the 19th century saw the pace of chocolate production rapidly quicken as several new chocolate techniques and inventions were patented in quick succession.
In 1875 Henri Nestle invented powdered milk which led to a Swiss colleague, Daniel Peter adding milk to chocolate. They combined to develop what became a highly popular milk chocolate recipe.
Invention of conching machine (1875)
Soon afterwards Rudolphe Lindt invented a way of evenly spreading cocoa butter inside the chocolate mass by stirring for long hours until it become silky and smooth. He called his invention conching machine.
First ever chocolate Easter Egg (1873)
So far, we've been talking about chocolate as a drink and in a moulded solid bar format. But Fry and Sons can also claim to have invented the first ever chocolate Easter egg in 1873.
What better way to decorate an Easter egg than with chocolate? Millions of us think so because its estimated that 80 million Easter eggs are sold each year in the UK alone.
First ever chocolate bar is made in USA (1894)
In the 1890s, American caramel maker Milton Hershey decided to pivot to chocolate. In 1900 the first ever Hershey chocolate bar was produced in Pennsylvania USA.
Invention of chocolate chip cookie (1930)
Another chocolate favourite is the chocolate chip cookie which was invented in 1930 by Ruth Wakefield. The story goes that she used broken pieces of Nestle's semi sweet chocolate in the belief that it would simply melt and absorb into the dough of her chocolate cookies.
When this didn't happen she found she had baked the first ever batch of American chocolate chip cookies.
The invention of white chocolate in 1930s by Nestle
There are three types of chocolate – dark, milk and white – although technically, white chocolate isn't a chocolate at all because it does not contain cocoa solids.
White chocolate was invented in the 1930s by Nestle. One theory is it was a means of using up all that excess cocoa butter, that the factory didn't have a use for. It became a British icon in the 1960s thanks to the famous "Milkybar Kid" TV adverts.
The invention of 4th type of chocolate-Ruby chocolate (2017)
Until the early 2000s there were only three types of chocolates. Except in 2017, chocolate maker Barry Callebaut, invented a completely new type of chocolate!
Enter Ruby Chocolate. It has a pink colour and a fruity berry flavour with a sweet/sour taste.
It's not a new type of cacao but is made from unfermented cacao beans with the pinkish colour thought to come from its treatment with a combination of citric acids.
This blog post was originally written on 5 December 2021 and last updated on 1 February 2026
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