Can you imagine a time when chocolate never existed?

Chocolate wasn’t always around in America; it actually originated from Central America by Mayans. At first chocolate was called theobroma cacao, which means “food of the Gods.” Chocolate came to Spain first by a group of Mayan nobles and later European colonists brought it to the rest of the world. America was first introduced to chocolate in 1851. Chocolate was one of the earliest American exports.

The first ever chocolate bar suitable for widespread consumption was made by Fry’s Chocolate Factory in Bristol, England in 1847. Later, in 1868 Richard Cadbury made the first heart-shaped chocolate for Valentine’s Day.

Switzerland consumes the most chocolate and the United States is eleventh on the top 20 countries of chocolate consumers. Sixteen of those countries are European. Winter is the season chocolate is sold the most. 48 million pounds of chocolate is sold during Valentine’s Day week, but the most chocolate sold is over 90 million pounds of chocolate during the last week of October because of Halloween.

Some fun facts about chocolate is the majority of Americans prefer milk chocolate than any other kind of chocolate and over 50 percent of Americans prefer chocolate over any other flavor. The largest cuckoo clock made of chocolate is in Germany. Research suggests that dark chocolate increases blood flow to your brain which helps memory attention span and problem solving skills. A frozen Hershey’s bar was dug up after 60 years and it was still edible.

Are you craving chocolate now after reading about it?