In 1893, Milton Hershey walked through the Chicago World’s Fair.
He stopped at a display of German chocolate-making machinery. It caught his eye, and changed his plans.
Hershey already ran a thriving caramel business in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Chocolate felt like the next chapter. He bought the chocolate-making equipment at the close of the Exposition.
The Start of Something Sweet
Back in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Milton Hershey ordered more chocolate-making equipment: a cocoa bean roaster, cocoa hulling machine, cocoa milling machine, and cocoa butter press.
Choosing the Location
Milton Hershey considered sites in Lancaster, Baltimore, New Jersey and New York for his new factory. In the end, he chose his hometown of Derry Church, Pennsylvania.
Derry Church sat near many dairy farms, providing Hershey with a reliable supply of fresh milk. Railroads connected the factory to major cities and shipping routes across the country.
Building the Chocolate Factory
1903
Workers use shovels and a jackhammer to dig the foundation.
1903
Railroad tracks connect the factory to cities around the nation.
1904
Scaffolding surrounds the walls of the factory and office.
1905
The completed factory and office building in the snow.
The Perfect Chocolate Recipe
While crews raised the buildings, Milton Hershey tackled the harder problem: perfecting the recipe.
Fresh milk made chocolate creamy, but too much moisture ruined texture. Milk fats could turn rancid.
Milton Hershey and his team spent long days testing and adjusting. They would change the milk, change the heat, change the timing, then taste and start again.
Finally, they landed on a combination that worked. First, a mixture of milk and sugar was condensed to remove the moisture. It then combined smoothly with chocolate liquor to create the perfect milk chocolate bar.
Step Inside the Early Chocolate Factory
Step 1: Roasting the Cocoa Beans
Cocoa beans arrived in Pennsylvania by ship and rail from tropical regions. At the factory, workers poured the beans into large rotating drums. Heat developed flavor and deepened their color. The smell of roasting cocoa often drifted beyond the factory walls and into the surrounding town.
Step 2: Cracking and Winnowing
After roasting, machines cracked the beans and separated the brittle outer shells from the cocoa nibs inside. Fans blew the lighter shells away, leaving only the nibs. The factory floor filled with the sound of belts, pulleys, and metal chutes carrying beans from one stage to the next.
Step 3: Grinding into Chocolate Liquor
Stone mills crushed cocoa nibs into a thick, dark paste known as chocolate liquor. Despite its name, chocolate liquor contains no alcohol. It contains cocoa solids and cocoa butter. The finer the grind, the smoother the finished chocolate feels on the tongue.
Step 4: Adding Milk and Sugar
Fresh milk from nearby dairy farms played a central role in Hershey’s recipe. Inside the factory, workers condensed skim milk with sugar to remove excess moisture before blending it with chocolate liquor. This step gave Hershey’s milk chocolate its creamy texture and stable shelf life.
Step 5: Refining and Conching
The blended chocolate passed through heavy refining rollers that reduced it to an even finer consistency. It then entered conching machines that ground and warmed the mixture for hours. This steady mixing smoothed the texture and balanced its flavor.
Step 6: Molding and Cooling the Chocolate
Liquid chocolate flowed into metal bar molds, then moved through cooling tunnels where it hardened. Early factory workers removed the bars and wrapped them by hand before packing them into boxes and crates. From there, railcars carried Hershey’s Milk Chocolate to cities across the country.
Hershey Factory Tours
From the beginning, people wanted to see how Hershey’s chocolate was made. The Hershey Chocolate Company started offering factory tours in 1910.
At the beginning of the tour, visitors were greeted with a chocolate drink. Visitors could then witness the production floor firsthand. At the end of the tour, they received packs of candy bars as souvenirs.
By 1970, nearly a million people took the factory tour each year. The crowds eventually outgrew the factory space. The last public tour inside the production plant was held in 1973. The next day, HERSHEY’S Chocolate World opened nearby with a free tour ride that shows how chocolate is made.
Today, you can still take the HERSHEY’S Chocolate Tour for free at HERSHEY’S Chocolate World in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Timeline of Hershey’s Chocolate
1893
Milton Hershey attended the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He purchased German chocolate-making equipment and began experimenting with making chocolate.
1894
Milton Hershey established the Hershey Chocolate Company as a subsidiary of his caramel business.
1900
Hershey introduced his first milk chocolate bar. It sold for five cents.
1903
Ground was broken for the Hershey Chocolate Factory in Derry Township, Pennsylvania.
1905
The chocolate factory was completed and began large-scale chocolate production.
1910
The Hershey factory began offering public tours, allowing visitors to see how chocolate was made.
1927
The Hershey Chocolate Company formally incorporated as Hershey Chocolate Corporation and became publicly traded, expanding its reach across the United States.
1973
The final public tours of the Hershey Chocolate Factory were held in the working plant. HERSHEY’S Chocolate World opened the next day, offering a free tour ride that showed how chocolate is made.
Today
Modern chocolate-making facilities use advanced technology and automated systems, but the basic process remains the same.
Trivia About Making Hershey’s Chocolate
1. What inspired Milton Hershey to begin making chocolate?
Correct! Not quite — B is correct!
2. What was unusual about Hershey’s milk chocolate recipe at the time?
Correct! Not quite — C is correct!
3. What is “chocolate liquor”?
Correct! Not quite — D is correct!
4. What step in chocolate production helps smooth texture and develop flavor?
Correct! Not quite — B is correct!
5. When was the first Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar introduced?
Correct! Not quite — B is correct!
6. How much did the original Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar cost?
Correct! Not quite — B is correct!
