<P> New processes that speed the production of chocolate emerged early in the Industrial Revolution . In 1815, Dutch chemist Coenraad van Houten introduced alkaline salts to chocolate, which reduced its bitterness . A few years thereafter, in 1828, he created a press to remove about half the natural fat (cacao butter) from chocolate liquor, which made chocolate both cheaper to produce and more consistent in quality . This innovation introduced the modern era of chocolate . Known as "Dutch cocoa", this machine - pressed chocolate was instrumental in the transformation of chocolate to its solid form when in 1847 Joseph Fry learned to make chocolate moldable by adding back melted cacao butter . Milk had sometimes been used as an addition to chocolate beverages since the mid-17th century, but in 1875 Daniel Peter invented milk chocolate by mixing a powdered milk developed by Henri Nestlé with the liquor . In 1879, the texture and taste of chocolate was further improved when Rodolphe Lindt invented the conching machine . </P> <P> Lindt & Sprüngli AG, a Swiss - based concern with global reach, had its start in 1845 as the Sprüngli family confectionery shop in Zurich that added a solid - chocolate factory the same year the process for making solid chocolate was developed and later bought Lindt's factory . Besides Nestlé, several chocolate companies had their start in the late 19th and early 20th centuries . Cadbury was manufacturing boxed chocolates in England by 1868 . In 1893, Milton S. Hershey purchased chocolate processing equipment at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and soon began the career of Hershey's chocolates with chocolate - coated caramels . </P> <P> Roughly two - thirds of the world's cocoa is produced in Western Africa, with Côte d'Ivoire being the largest source, producing a total crop of 1,448,992 tonnes . Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon are other West African countries among the top 5 cocoa producing countries in the world . Like many food industry producers, individual cocoa farmers are at the mercy of volatile world markets . The price can vary from between £ 500 ($945) and £ 3,000 ($5,672) per ton in the space of just a few years . While investors trading in cocoa can dump shares at will, individual cocoa farmers cannot ramp up production and abandon trees at anywhere near that pace . </P> <P> Only three to four per cent of "cocoa futures" contracts traded in the cocoa markets ever end up in the physical delivery of cocoa . Every year seven to nine times more cocoa is bought and sold on the exchange than exists . </P>

Who was the first person who made chocolate