TO-21-04 – Chocolate

Well, speaking of, of British chocolate, we need to get on, I suppose, to the more famous side of it which

is the Quakers: the Fry’s in Bristol, the Cadbury’s in Birmingham, and the Rowntree’s in York. Alex, what

is it about Quakers? Why are they attracted to chocolate as an industry?

They were attracted to grocers’ shops.

Right.

For Quakers in Britain for many, many years – they were restricted from going to universities, being

MPs... But one thing they could do was go into business , and when they went into business, they were

seen as being much more trustworthy. Grocers up until the 1860 Food and Drugs Act, maybe even later –

you couldn’t trust them not to put sawdust in your bread, or some wax in your cocoa. There’s one story of

a grocer who was going round the backs of hotels and buying up used tea leaves—at a time when tea

leaves were still incredibly expensive – and then drying them out, soaking them with sheep dung, and

then reselling it as though it was new tea. You had one of two choices: you could either buy from a

cheaper grocer, but run the risk they were doing something terrible to your food, or you could go to a

Quaker. And they would charge you more money, but you knew that they were going to act with integrity.

TO-21-04 – Chocolate

Well, speaking of, of British chocolate, we need to get on, I suppose, to the more famous side of it which

is the Quakers: the Fry’s in Bristol, the Cadbury’s in Birmingham, and the Rowntree’s in York. Alex, what

is it about Quakers? Why are they attracted to chocolate as an industry?

They were attracted to grocers’ shops.

Right.

For Quakers in Britain for many, many years – they were restricted from going to universities, being

MPs... But one thing they could do was go into business , and when they went into business, they were

seen as being much more trustworthy. Grocers up until the 1860 Food and Drugs Act, maybe even later –

you couldn’t trust them not to put sawdust in your bread, or some wax in your cocoa. There’s one story of

a grocer who was going round the backs of hotels and buying up used tea leaves—at a time when tea

leaves were still incredibly expensive – and then drying them out, soaking them with sheep dung, and

then reselling it as though it was new tea. You had one of two choices: you could either buy from a

cheaper grocer, but run the risk they were doing something terrible to your food, or you could go to a

Quaker. And they would charge you more money, but you knew that they were going to act with integrity.