Baker's Chocolate facts for kids
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| Owner | Kraft Heinz |
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| Introduced | 1780 as Baker Chocolate Company |
Baker's Chocolate is a well-known brand of baking chocolates. It is currently owned by Kraft Heinz. Baker's offers many kinds of chocolate products, including white chocolate and unsweetened chocolate. They also sell sweetened coconut flakes. It is one of the largest chocolate brands in the United States. The company was first known as Walter Baker & Company.
History
How It All Started
In 1764, a man named John Hannon and a doctor named James Baker started a business. They began importing cocoa beans and making chocolate. Their first factory was in the Lower Mills area of Dorchester, Massachusetts.
In 1779, John Hannon went on a sailing trip to buy more cocoa beans. He never returned. The next year, in 1780, Hannon's wife sold the company to Dr. James Baker. The company was then renamed the Baker Chocolate Company. Dr. Baker's first product was a block of chocolate used to make a sweet chocolate drink.
At first, Baker's Chocolate was mainly sold in the Northeastern United States. In 1804, James Baker's son, Edmund Baker, took over the family business. He made the company bigger by using a modern mill to produce more chocolate.
The brand was originally called "Hannon’s Best Chocolate." This name was used for almost fifteen years. In 1780, the name changed after Hannon's wife sold the company to Baker. Before 1865, the company sold three different types of drinking chocolate.
Growing the Brand
By 1849, under the leadership of Walter Baker, the Baker's Chocolate brand reached California. This happened during the exciting time of the Gold Rush. For a while, the company only made one type of chocolate.
Then, in 1852, an employee named Samuel German created something new. He made "German's Sweet Chocolate." This chocolate had more sugar than the baking chocolates made before. Years later, in 1957, a newspaper in Dallas, Texas, printed a cake recipe. It was for "German's Chocolate Cake" and used this special chocolate. The company that owned Baker's at the time, General Foods, reprinted the recipe. This helped the cake become widely known as "German chocolate cake."
Chocolate production grew steadily throughout the 1800s. In 1883, the company adopted its famous trademark logo, La Belle Chocolatière. This was done by Henry L. Pierce, who was related to Walter Baker. Pierce started advertising Baker's Chocolate a lot in newspapers. By 1896, Baker's Chocolate was advertised in about 8,000 newspapers across the United States!
The company also used other ways to advertise. They put up signs and cards in grocery stores. They advertised in novels, on street cars, and on billboards. They even offered special tableware and logo pins to attract customers. Around the late 1800s, Baker's began to encourage people to use chocolate as an ingredient in desserts and for baking.
New Owners and Products
After Henry L. Pierce passed away in 1896, a group called the Forbes Syndicate bought the company. In 1927, they sold it to the Postum Cereal Company. This company later became known as General Foods.
In 1966, the chocolate production moved from Dorchester, Massachusetts, to Dover, Delaware. In 1989, Kraft Foods bought General Foods, so Baker's Chocolate became part of Kraft Foods. Today, Baker's is owned by Kraft Heinz. This company was formed when Kraft Foods and Heinz merged together.
Products
Baker's continues to offer many products for people who love to bake at home. Some products, like vanilla extract and cocoa powder, have been stopped over the years as the company changed owners. However, many popular products are still available.
Here are some of Baker's most common products:
- German's Sweet Chocolate 'Bar' (which has 48% cacao)
- Semi-sweet chocolate (with 56% cacao)
- Bittersweet chocolate (with 66% cacao)
- Unsweetened chocolate (which is 100% cacao)
- Premium white chocolate (this has 0% cacao)
- Dipping chocolate (available in milk or dark chocolate)
- Sweetened Angel Flake coconut
