In the early nineteenth century the major English chocolate firms --
Fry, Rowntree, and Cadbury -- were all Quaker family enterprises that
aimed to do well by doing good. The English chocolatiers introduced the
world's first chocolate bar and ever fancier chocolate temptations --
while also writing groundbreaking papers on poverty, publishing
authoritative studies of the Bible, and campaigning against human rights
abuses. Chocolate was always a global business, and in the global
competitors, especially the Swiss and the Americans Hershey and Mars,
the Quaker capitalists met their match. The ensuing chocolate wars would
culminate in a multi-billion-dollar showdown pitting Quaker tradition
against the cutthroat tactics of a corporate behemoth.
Featuring a cast of savvy entrepreneurs, brilliant eccentrics, and
resourceful visionaries, Chocolate Wars is a delicious history of the
fierce, 150-year business rivalry for one of the world's most coveted
markets.