Ritter Sport facts for kids
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Ritter Sport dark chocolate with marzipan
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| Private | |
| Industry | Foods |
| Founded | 1912 |
| Founder | Clara and Alfred E. Ritter |
| Headquarters |
Waldenbuch
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Alfred T. Ritter (chairman), Andreas Ronken (CEO) |
| Revenue | €482 million (2017) |
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Number of employees
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1000 |
Ritter Sport is a famous chocolate bar brand from Germany. It's known for its unique square-shaped chocolate bars. The company is family-owned and was started in 1912 by Clara and Alfred Eugen Ritter. Today, Andreas Ronken is the CEO.
Most Ritter Sport chocolate bars weigh 100 grams and are shaped like a square. They are usually divided into 16 smaller squares. In 2013, the company also started making bars with 9 bigger squares. You can also find larger 250-gram bars and tiny mini bars.
Contents
The Story of Ritter Sport Chocolate
How It All Began
In 1912, Alfred and Clara Ritter started a chocolate factory in Stuttgart, Germany. They later created their own chocolate brand called "Alrika" in 1919. By 1926, their company had 80 employees and even bought its first truck to deliver chocolate!
The Famous Square Shape
In 1930, the factory moved to Waldenbuch to make more chocolate. The well-known "Ritter's Sport Schokolade" brand was launched in 1932. Clara Ritter had a clever idea: she wanted a chocolate bar that would fit perfectly into any sport jacket pocket without breaking. This is how the square shape was born, and it replaced the old Alrika brand.
Growing Through Challenges
During the Second World War, chocolate production stopped. Ritter chocolates didn't return until the 1950s when chocolate rationing ended in West Germany. After Alfred Ritter passed away in 1952, his son, Alfred Otto Ritter, took over. He decided to focus only on the square chocolate bar. This focus helped sales triple between 1960 and 1970.
In the 1970s, Ritter Sport bars became much more colorful. Each flavor got its own bright, unique color. This was a smart move, especially with the rise of colour television, where Ritter advertised. They also introduced the "Knick-Pack," a special snap-open wrapper that was easy to use.
New Leadership and Ideas
After Alfred Otto Ritter's death in 1974, his wife, Marta, managed the company. In 1978, the third generation of the family, Alfred T. Ritter and Marli Hoppe-Ritter, took charge. They brought new ideas, focusing on social, environmental, and sustainability issues. Alfred T. Ritter became the chairman in 1983 and later took over the company's daily operations in 2005. In 2015, Andreas Ronken became the CEO.
Ritter Sport's Commitment to the Planet
Supporting Cocoa Farmers
In 1990, Ritter Sport started a project called "Cacaonica" to support organic cocoa farming in Nicaragua. They also set up their own cocoa plantation there, which they say is the "largest continuous cocoa plantation in the world." This helps them get a good portion of their cocoa directly from sustainable sources.
Eco-Friendly Practices
Ritter Sport is serious about being environmentally friendly. They have their own power plant that provides 70% of their factory's energy. Since 2002, the company has been powered entirely by renewable energy. Their chocolate packaging is also designed to be recyclable and reduce its impact on the environment. In 2017, Ritter Sport won the German Sustainability Award for being a very sustainable medium-sized company.
In 2023, a study on chocolate companies and their environmental efforts ranked Ritter Sport as second best out of 38 companies. They were seen as leaders in tracking where their cocoa comes from and preventing deforestation.
Ritter Sport Museum and Shops
In 2005, the Ritter Museum opened. It displays a collection of art that focuses on the square shape, which is the design of Ritter chocolate. The museum is connected to the factory's "ChocoShop," which opened in 2001. The museum building itself is a modern, square-shaped design.
Ritter Sport has also opened other shops. In 2013, they opened a shop at Ravensburger Spieleland, a German theme park. The next year, their first temporary "pop-up" shop appeared in Hamburg.
Different Kinds of Ritter Sport Chocolate
Ritter Sport offers many different flavors! They even have special organic and vegan options.
Classic Varieties
- Vollmilch – Plain milk chocolate (Royal Blue Wrapper)
- Schoko-Duo – Plain milk chocolate and white chocolate
- Dunkle Vollmilch – Plain medium dark chocolate, 40% cacao
- Halbbitter – Plain dark chocolate, 50% cacao
- Die Milde – Plain dark chocolate from Ghana, 55% cacao
- Die Feine – Plain dark chocolate from Nicaragua, 61% cacao
- Edel-bitter – Plain dark chocolate from Ecuador, 71% cacao
- Edel-bitter – Plain dark chocolate from Ecuador, 73% cacao
- Die Kräftige – Plain dark chocolate from Peru, 74% cacao
- Die Starke – Plain dark chocolate from Ghana, 81% cacao
- Knusperkeks – Milk chocolate with a butter biscuit
- Pfefferminz – Chocolate with peppermint filling
- Joghurt – Yogurt
- Erdbeer Joghurt – Milk chocolate strawberry and yogurt filling
- Voll-Nuss – Milk chocolate with whole hazelnuts
- Dunkle Voll-Nuss – Dark chocolate with whole hazelnuts
- Weiße Voll-Nuss – White chocolate with whole hazelnuts
- Knusperflakes – Milk chocolate with corn flakes
- Voll Erdnuss – Milk chocolate with whole peanuts
- Ganze Mandel – Milk chocolate with whole almonds
- Marzipan – Dark chocolate with marzipan center
- Cocos – Milk chocolate with flakes of coconut in the center
- Trauben-Nuss – Milk chocolate with raisins and hazelnut pieces
- Rum Trauben Nuss – Milk chocolate with rum-soaked raisins and hazelnut pieces
- Cappuccino – Milk chocolate and cappuccino cream
- Alpenmilch – Special milk chocolate with high alpine milk proportion
- Nugat – Milk chocolate with hazelnut-nougat center
- Feinherb à la Mousse au Chocolat – dark chocolate filled with chocolate mousse
- Karamel Nuss – Milk Chocolate with butter caramel cream, hazelnuts and crispy rice
- Haselnuss – Milk chocolate with chopped hazelnuts
- Neapolitan – Milk Chocolate with Neapolitan wafers
- Noisette – Hazelnut-flavored milk chocolate
- Kakao-Mousse – Whipped Cream Cocoa in Alpine Milk Chocolate
- Kakao-Keks – Dark chocolate with cookie center
- Karamell – Milk chocolate with caramel filling.
- Olympia – Milk Chocolate with yogurt, honey, and glucose
- Honig Salz Mandel – Milk chocolate with salted almonds and honey
- Macadamia – Milk chocolate with halved Macadamia nuts
- Waffel – Milk chocolate with cocoa cream-filled waffle square
- Mandel Orange – Dark chocolate with almond pieces and candied orange peel
- Cashew – Milk chocolate with roasted and salted cashew nuts
Organic and Vegan Choices
In April 2008, Ritter Sport launched an organic product line called "Ritter Sport Bio." They also released their first certified vegan bars in 2017, like Dunkle Voll-Nuss Amaranth and Dunkle Mandel Quinoa. A third vegan bar, Sesam, was released in 2020.
- Mandelsplitter – Milk chocolate with chopped almonds.
- Macadamia – Milk chocolate with chopped macadamia nuts.
- Trauben-Cashew – Milk chocolate with chopped cashew nuts and raisins.
- Vollmilch 35% – Milk chocolate with 35% cacao.
- Feinherb 60% – Dark chocolate with 60% cacao.
- Kakaosplitter Nuss – Milk chocolate with 35% cacao, chopped nuts and cocoa kernel chips.
Ritter Sport Slogans
Famous Mottos
Ritter Sport has several well-known slogans:
- "Quadratisch. Praktisch. Gut." This means "Square. Practical. Good." and is used on German packaging.
- On English packaging, you might see "Quality. Chocolate. Squared." or "Quality in a Square."
- Another slogan is "Knick Knack auf Zack," which describes the sound of breaking the chocolate bar and means being "ready and prepared."
The Ritter Sport Mascot
Sometimes, Ritter Sport is represented by a cute baby dragon named "Quadrago." This might be because the German word "Ritter" means "Knight."
Global Reach and New Products
In 2019, Ritter Sport took over a production site in Breitenbrunn, Austria. This was their first factory outside of Germany. With this, they also started making other products like Amicelli wafer rolls. This was the first time since the 1960s that Ritter Sport had another brand in its product family.
By 2020, Ritter Sport was selling its chocolates in over 100 countries. Around 70,000 tons of chocolate were produced that year! A large part of their sales now come from outside Germany. They have offices in many countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and China.
See also
In Spanish: Ritter Sport para niños
