Features / Bristicles
8 stories about Bristol’s chocolate history
Easter chocolate wouldn’t be what it is today without Bristol.
In preparation for Bristol’s Taste Chocolate festival this Easter, we take a look at the impressive yet often overlooked history of Bristol’s chocolate industry.
1. Small Street, 1959. Joseph Fry, an apothecary, began to sell chocolate as a tincture, or medicine dissolved in alcohol. In 1795, the Fry family patented a method of grinding cocoa beans using a Watt steam engine, introducing factory techniques into the cocoa business. Their company, JS Fry & Sons (or just “Fry’s”), became a premier chocolate maker.
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2. In 1847, Fry’s developed a method of mixing melted cocoa butter with cocoa powder and sugar and pressed the resulting paste into a mould – the first ever chocolate bar. In the following decades, Fry’s introduced over 200 products to the market, including the first ever Easter Egg in 1873.
3. Fry’s opened seven factories in Bristol and by 1896 had nearly 4,500 employees, going on to become the largest commercial producer of chocolate in Britain. In 1918, Fry’s merged with Cadburys and in 1935 became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cadburys.
4. The next biggest manufacturer of chocolate in Bristol after Fry’s was Packers, which was started in 1881 by H.J Packer, a former employee of J.S Fry’s. Packers concentrated on products for the cheaper end of the market.
5. Packers swiftly expanded and acquired Glasgow chocolate company Carson’s in 1912. In the early 1960’s Carson’s became well known as Britain’s biggest producers of chocolate liqueurs.
6. Packers broke into the high-end chocolate market in 1912 with new subsidiary company Charles Bond Ltd. The new range was an immediate hit in London, and Charles Bond, or “Bonds”, survived until the 1960s.
7. Guilbert’s is the only remaining manufacturer from Bristol’s original chocolate industry. Piers Guilbert opened his first chocolate shop & factory at 40 Park Street in 1910. Guilbert’s still hand makes chocolates and confectionery by traditional methods.
8. Together with Guilbert’s, Bristol’s chocolate heritage lives on through small, artisan chocolatiers, many of whom will be represented at Taste Chocolate.
So the next time you bite into an Easter egg (or a chocolate bar), say a thank you to all the chocolatiers of Bristol.
Read more: Preview: Taste Chocolate festival