Not many have heard of Daniel Peter, but Nestle is a household name.  Who would of thought that two enterprising entrepreneurs many decades ago would have such results in their quest for perfection as evidenced by the love of milk chocolate in today’s world.

Daniel Peter was a Swiss candle manufacturer in Vevey Switzerland until the use of kerosene made candle making a dying business.  Had it not been the advent of the oil lamp in the 1860′s we might well live a society today without milk chocolate.  AAckk!  What an aweful thought!

While searching for a better use of his candle factory, Peter fell in love with a chocolatier’s daughter and married her.  Following the example of his brother-in-law, Auguste Cailler, he started to manufacture chocolate in 1867.   However, even then chocolate making was competitive.

Daniel wanted something new to differentiate his product from his competitors. He had the idea of including milk into his chocolate, but found it almost impossible to do. Finally after much experimentation he was successful. However, the mixture turned sour in less than a week. He described the situation to a neighbor, Henri Nestle, who was encountering a similar stability problem with his baby food manufacturing process.

By pooling their efforts, the solution was found. Nearly all the water content was extracted from the milk before mixing it with cocoa to make chocolate. Hence, the world’s most popular confection — milk chocolate — was created in 1875 by using Henri Nestle’s “condensed” milk.

Peter refined his recipe over the next decade.  His chocolate became an international sensation.  Showered with medals at expositions, and embraced by the chocolate-loving public.
Having conquered Europe,  Peter was ready to invade the new world. In 1901, a representative of Lamont, Corliss and Company became the company’s first stateside sales representative. By 1907, a Peter’s manufacturing facility was opened in Fulton, New York.

Some years later, Lamont, Corliss and Company purchased the company, which would become Nestle’s Chocolate Company in 1951, proving how very small the world of chocolate truly is.

Since 1907 Nestle Chocolate & Confections has manufactured chocolate in the United States to the highest standard of quality. Peter’s Chocolate, a division of Nestle Food Company, continued the tradition, offering an extensive line of products known for their quality and consistency. It is a fitting tribute to Daniel Peter, the inventor of milk chocolate.
In 2002 the Peter’s brand was purchased by Cargill, Incorporated, which continues the tradition of producing milk chocolate from whole milk crumb in accordance with Daniel Peter’s original method.

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Raised in rural central Pennsylvania with no formal education, Milton S. Hershey, as a teenager took on a four year apprenticeship to a candy maker in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Then in 1876 he attempted to start his own candy business and failed despite the 6 years of hard work he put in to it.

Then he moved to Denver and began working with a confectioner who taught him how to make caramels using fresh milk.  Moving to New York City he started up a second candy business.  It also failed.

A true entrepreneur, Milton brushed off the failure and returned to Lancaster, Pennsylvania and tried again to make a go of the caramel business.  This time it worked.  He became extremely successful.

The Lancaster Caramel Company was shipping all over the U.S. and Europe, employing up to 1400 people.  It wasn’t long before he became one of the area’s leading citizens.

Milton Hershey became fascinated with the art of chocolate making and purchased German chocolate-making machinery exhibited at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He bought the equipment for his Lancaster plant and soon began producing chocolate coatings for his caramel and  a variety of chocolate creations.

For years he worked at perfecting a viable recipe for making milk chocolate.   The Swiss had closely guarded their secret of making milk chocolate.  Finally he hit upon the right formula of milk, sugar and cocoa that allowed him to realize his long held dream of mass producing and distributing milk chocolate candy.

Now what had been a luxury for the rich only, could be enjoyed by any one who could afford a Hershey Bar.

Hershey sold the Lancaster Caramel Co. for $1 million in 1900 in order to concentrate exclusively on his chocolate business. Three years later, he returned to Derry Township, where he was born, to build a new factory. There he could obtain the large supplies of fresh milk needed to perfect and produce fine milk chocolate.

In 1903 he began construction on what was to become the world’s largest chocolate manufacturing plant. The facility, completed in 1905, was designed to manufacture chocolate using the latest mass production techniques.   milk chocolate quickly became the first nationally marketed product of its kind.

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