Chocolate Wars
by Deborah Cadbury, HarperCollins, $40
Given the insatiable lust many people have for chocolate, it is surprising to read that early attempts by entrepreneurs to make something tasty out of the South American cocoa bean were mostly failures - bitter hot drinks that often looked as unappetising as they
tasted because of the large amounts of cocoa butter, which was a byproduct of processing them.
But that's not the only surprising information in this beautifully written and researched history of the wars between family chocolate businesses, which is also a history of the Cadbury family and empire - the author being a descendant.
Families whose names still appear on chocolate products were part of these wars, including Fry, Rowntree, Nestle and Hershey.
Curiously, the English families were all Quakers.
The Cadburys, enlightened and altruistic employers, believed that to be in business was a worthwhile matter, but that the pursuit of wealth should always be subordinate to the duty to do good - to raise the incomes and quality of life of their employees.
They built a wonderful factory - called Bourneville - outside Birmingham to give their workers fresh, clean air. There was room for cricket, and there were gardens and swings for the ladies.
All staff were generously paid, even when the Cadburys were struggling.
A fascinating book.
