by Fnord666 on (#58C2G)
hubie writes:Homemade and small scale chocolate making has followed an arc similar to the beer industry where a "golden age" declines through consolidation to industrial dominance from which an "artisan" resurgence grows. In the early 20th century there were a relatively large number of chocolate makers where most of them were small-scale producers. As the century progressed, a number of factors drove the industry to consolidate where essentially all the small-scale makers were bought, or they went out of business. The global industry today is dominated by the "big five": Hershey's, Mars, Ferrero Rocher, Cadbury, and Nestlé. However, over the last 15 or so years, a number of small but dedicated "bean to bar" chocolate makers have been springing up.Read more of this story at SoylentNews.