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 euros (2017) |
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Number of employees
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1000 |
Ritter Sport is a popular brand of chocolate bar from Germany. It is made by a family-owned company called Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG. Their main office is in Waldenbuch, Germany.
What makes Ritter Sport special is its square shape. Most of their chocolate bars weigh 100 g (3.5 oz) and are divided into 16 smaller squares. This creates a four-by-four pattern. In 2013, they also started making bars with 9 bigger squares. You can also find larger 250 g (8.8 oz) bars and tiny 16.67 g (0.588 oz) mini bars.
Contents
The Story of Ritter Sport Chocolate
Starting a Sweet Business
In 1912, Alfred and Clara Ritter started a chocolate factory. It was in Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt, Germany. They later created their own chocolate brand called "Alrika." This name came from Alfred Ritter and Cannstatt.
Growing the Company
By 1926, the company had 80 employees. They even bought their first truck to deliver chocolate. In 1930, the factory needed more space. So, the company moved to Waldenbuch, a town near Stuttgart.
The famous square chocolate bar we know today was launched in 1932. Clara Ritter had a great idea. She suggested making a chocolate bar that would fit perfectly into any sport jacket pocket. It also had to weigh the same as a normal chocolate bar. This smart idea led to the unique square shape.
Challenges and Changes
The Second World War stopped chocolate production for a while. Ritter chocolates were not available until the 1950s. This was when chocolate rationing ended in West Germany.
In 1952, the company's founder, Alfred Ritter, passed away. His son, Alfred Otto Ritter, took over. He decided to focus the company on the special square chocolate bar.
Modernizing the Look
In the 1970s, Ritter Sport bars became much more colorful. Each flavor got its own bright, unique color. These bright labels looked great on the new color TVs where Ritter advertised.
They also introduced a new "snap-open" package. It was called the 'Knick-Pack'. Ritter marketed this as a "practical and modern" way to open their chocolate.
New Leadership and Green Efforts
After Alfred Otto Ritter's death, his wife Marta managed the company. In 1978, the company was passed to the third generation of the family. These were brother and sister, Alfred T. Ritter and Marli Hoppe-Ritter.
In 1990, they started projects to help the environment. "Cacaonica" supports growing organic cocoa and replanting trees in Nicaragua. They also started "Ritter Solar," which makes solar energy products.
The Ritter company uses a special power plant that provides 70% of the factory's energy. Since 2002, the company has used only renewable energy. Their chocolate packaging is also designed to be eco-friendly and can be recycled.
The Ritter Museum
The Ritter Museum opened in 2005. It displays art collected by Marli Hoppe-Ritter. This collection includes paintings, sculptures, and other artworks. All of them explore the square shape, just like the Ritter chocolate bar. The museum is next to the factory's 'ChocoShop', which opened in 2001.
New Flavors and Milestones
In April 2008, Ritter Sport launched a line of organic chocolate bars called "Ritter Sport Bio."
The company celebrated its 100th birthday in 2012. They toured 19 German cities with a special 'Colourful ChocoTour'. They also released a limited-edition anniversary bar. It was called Edel-Nuss Mix and had milk chocolate with macadamias, cashews, and almonds. In 2012, Ritter also started a new cocoa farm in Nicaragua. The first harvest from this farm was in 2017.
In 2013, Ritter opened a shop at Ravensburger Spieleland, a German theme park. The next year, Ritter had its first temporary "pop-up" shop in Hamburg.
In 2017, Ritter released its first certified vegan chocolate bars. These were Dunkle Voll-Nuss Amaranth and Dunkle Mandel Quinoa. A third vegan bar, Sesam, was released in 2020. These new bars were made for the growing number of people who choose to eat vegan foods.
In 2018, Ritter made a special limited-edition bar. It used cocoa from their new Nicaraguan farm. Only 30,000 of these bars were made.
Many Delicious Varieties
Ritter Sport makes many different kinds of chocolate bars. Each one has a unique wrapper color. Here are some of their popular flavors:
- Vollmilch – Classic milk chocolate (Royal Blue Wrapper)
- Schoko-Duo – Milk chocolate and white chocolate (Royal Blue Wrapper with chocolate bar)
- Dunkle Vollmilch – Medium dark chocolate (Azure Blue Wrapper)
- Halbbitter – Dark chocolate, 50% cacao (Burgundy Wrapper)
- Edel-bitter – Dark chocolate from Ecuador, 71% cacao (Pink Wrapper)
- Knusperkeks – Milk chocolate with a butter biscuit (Brown Wrapper)
- Pfefferminz – Chocolate with peppermint filling (Caribbean Green Wrapper)
- Joghurt – Yogurt filling (White Wrapper)
- Erdbeer Joghurt – Milk chocolate with strawberry and yogurt filling (Light Pink Wrapper)
- Voll-Nuss – Milk chocolate with whole hazelnuts (Brown Wrapper with Hazelnut-Pattern)
- Dunkle Voll-Nuss – Dark chocolate with whole hazelnuts (Dark Brown Wrapper with Hazelnut-Pattern)
- Weiße Voll-Nuss – White chocolate with whole hazelnuts (White/Cream Wrapper with Hazelnut-Pattern)
- Knusperflakes – Milk chocolate with corn flakes (Golden Yellow Wrapper)
- Voll Erdnuss – Milk chocolate with whole peanuts (Orange Wrapper)
- Ganze Mandel – Milk chocolate with whole almonds (Dark Green Wrapper)
- Marzipan – Dark chocolate with marzipan center (Red Wrapper)
- Cocos – Milk chocolate with coconut flakes (Silver Wrapper)
- Trauben-Nuss – Milk chocolate with raisins and hazelnut pieces (Carmine Red Wrapper)
- Rum Trauben Nuss – Milk chocolate with rum-soaked raisins and hazelnut pieces (Crimson Red Wrapper)
- Cappuccino – Milk chocolate and cappuccino cream (Amber Wrapper)
- Alpenmilch – Special milk chocolate with high alpine milk (Sky Blue Wrapper)
- Nugat – Milk chocolate with hazelnut-nougat center (Midnight Blue Wrapper)
- Feinherb à la Mousse au Chocolat – Dark chocolate filled with chocolate mousse (Bistre Wrapper)
- Karamel Nuss – Milk Chocolate with butter caramel cream, hazelnuts and crispy rice (Golden yellow wrapper)
- Haselnuss – Milk chocolate with chopped hazelnuts (Green wrapper)
- Noisette – Hazelnut-flavored milk chocolate. (light green wrapper)
- Kakao-Mousse – Whipped Cream Cocoa in Alpine Milk Chocolate. (Brown Wrapper)
- Kakao-Keks – Dark chocolate with cookie center. (Brown Wrapper with cookie background)
- Karamell – Milk chocolate with caramel filling. (Orange wrapper)
- Olympia – Milk Chocolate with yoghurt, honey, and glucose. (Gold Wrapper)
- Honig Salz Mandel – Milk chocolate with salted almonds and honey. (Orange wrapper with chocolate-coated almonds)
- Macadamia – Milk chocolate with halved Macadamia nuts. (Blue wrapper with chocolate-coated Macadamia nuts)
- Waffel – Milk chocolate with cocoa cream-filled waffle square. (Orange wrapper)
- Mandel Orange – Dark chocolate with almond pieces and candied orange peel
- Cashew – Milk chocolate with roasted and salted cashew nuts
Organic Choices
Ritter Sport also offers organic varieties, which means the ingredients are grown without certain chemicals.
- 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
Ritter Sport is known for its catchy slogans around the world.
- The most famous German slogan is "Quadratisch. Praktisch. Gut." This means "Square. Practical. Good."
- In English-speaking countries like North America, they use "Quality. Chocolate. Squared."
- In the UK and Ireland, it's "Quality in a Square."
- Another German slogan is "Qualität im Quadrat," which means "Quality in a Square."
- A fun slogan from the 1990s was "Knick Knack auf Zack." This describes the sound of breaking the chocolate and means being "ready and prepared."
Quadrago the Dragon
Sometimes, Ritter Sport is represented by a cute baby dragon named "Quadrago." He often carries a banner. This might be because the German word "Ritter" means "Knight."
Caring for the Planet
Ritter Sport is working to be more environmentally friendly. They are trying to make sure their cocoa comes from sustainable sources. This means growing cocoa in a way that protects forests and helps farmers.
In a 2023 report, Ritter Sport was ranked very high among chocolate companies for its environmental efforts. They were seen as a leader in tracking where their cocoa comes from and fighting against deforestation.
Images for kids
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Ritter Sport Minis
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Ritter Sport dark chocolate with marzipan
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Ritter Sport dark chocolate
See also
In Spanish: Ritter Sport para niños
