The first solid chocolate bar chocolate candy bars list into production was made by J. Sons of Bristol, England, in 1847. Cadbury began producing one in 1849. A wide selection of similar chocolate snacks or nutritional supplements are produced with added sources of protein and vitamins, including energy bars, protein bars and granola bars.

In many varieties of English, chocolate bar refers to any confectionery bar that contains chocolate. In some dialects of American English, only bars of solid chocolate are described as chocolate bars, with the phrase candy bar used as a broader term encompassing bars of solid chocolate, bars combining chocolate with other ingredients, and bars containing no chocolate at all. Up to and including the 19th century, confectionery of all sorts was typically sold in small pieces to be bagged and bought by weight. The introduction of chocolate as something that could be eaten as is, rather than used to make beverages or desserts, resulted in the earliest bar forms, or tablets. The production of chocolate specifically meant to be eaten in bars may predate the French Revolution.

The Marquis de Sade wrote to his wife in a letter dated May 16, 1779, complaining about the quality of a care package he had received while in prison. In 1819, Swiss grocer and chocolatier François-Louis Cailler founded Cailler and opened a sophisticated and water-powered chocolate factory, which allowed him to produce solid chocolate that was molded into tablets. In 1836, French pharmacist Antoine Brutus Menier launched a chocolate tablet with six semi-cylindrical divisions. He previously used chocolate as a coating for pills.

Earlier, in 1828, Casparus van Houten patented an inexpensive method for pressing the fat from roasted cocoa beans. The center of the bean, known as the “nib”, contains an average of 54 percent cocoa butter. In 1847, Joseph Fry discovered a way to mix the ingredients of cocoa powder, sugar and cocoa to manufacture a paste with a higher percentage of cocoa butter that could then be more easily molded into a solid chocolate bar. He is generally credited for the first mass-produced bar. Sons of Bristol, England, began mass-producing chocolate bars and they became very popular.

Over 220 Fry’s products were introduced in the following decades. In addition to Cadbury and Fry, Rowntree’s and Terry’s were major British chocolate companies, as chocolate manufacturing expanded in England throughout the rest of the century. Milk chocolate was invented in Switzerland by Daniel Peter and Henri Nestlé in 1875. Rodolphe Lindt, a Swiss confectioner and inventor, began adding cocoa butter as an ingredient in 1879. In 1897, following the lead of Swiss companies, Cadbury introduced its own line of milk chocolate bars in the UK.

Cadbury Dairy Milk, first produced in 1905, became the company’s best selling bar. In the United States, immigrants who arrived with candy-making skills drove the development of new chocolate bars. Stephen, New Brunswick developed and began selling their version of the modern chocolate bar in 1910. Chocolate bar sales grew rapidly in the early-20th century. During World War I, the U. Army commissioned a number of American chocolate makers to produce 40 pound blocks of chocolate. The first chocolate bars were solid chocolate, quickly followed by chocolate coating simple fillings.

Producers soon began combining chocolate with other ingredients such as nuts, fruit, caramel, nougat, and wafers. The Fry’s Chocolate Cream, produced by J. The Branche, created by Kohler and produced by Cailler since 1904, is a cylindrical and branch-looking milk chocolate and hazelnut bar with a praline filling, partly made with recycled broken confectionery. The Goo Goo Cluster, produced by the Standard Candy Company of Nashville, Tennessee, in 1912, was the first combination bar in the United States. It was made of caramel, marshmallow, and peanuts, covered with milk chocolate. The Clark Bar, a crispy core with caramel and peanut butter covered with milk chocolate, was the first nationally marketed combination bar in the United States.

George Williamson of Williamson Candy Co. Williamson launched an advertising campaign that included newspaper ads, streetcar signs, and billboards. The Baby Ruth was developed by Otto Schnering, owner of the Curtiss Candy Co. Kandy Kake, to compete with the Oh Henry!

Mars bars were introduced by Mars, Incorporated in 1932 in Slough, England, by Forrest Mars, Sr. A solid chocolate bar contains some or all of the following components: cocoa solids, cocoa butter, sugar, and milk. The Wonka Bar was introduced as a fictional chocolate bar that served as a key story point in the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. On January 16, 2020, Mars Inc. Guinness World Record for largest chocolate nut bar. They produced a 12-foot by 27.