History
The Food That Built America Recap for Chocolate in a Glass
This week’s episode of The Food That Built America on The History Channel is titled Chocolate in a Glass……honoring chocolate beverages we know and love.
Mesoamericans helped come up with the first chocolate beverage over 4,000 years ago. It was commonly used for events like funerals and were not what we enjoyed today.
In the 1400s, Jamaica came up with a more palatable chocolate drink, and in the 1900s, America would come up with its own version.
By the time the 1920s rolled around, drinking chocolate wasn’t very common, but eating chocolate was. In 1925, Hershey hired Sam Hinkle—Penn State alum!!–invented the Mr. Goodbar….one of his many iconic inventions.
He wanted to do more than come up with a candy bar, so he decided to come up with a chocolate syrup to mix with sodas. Due to Prohibition, soda fountains were now popular, she he wanted to jump on the opportunity.
After a lot of research, trial and error—and many taste tests!!—he comes up with the perfect syrup….by adding vanilla to the mix. However, the batches are moldy, so they have to come up with something else and something better.
Natale Olivieri is a soda shop owner that is struggling to stay afloat. He has several bottled sodas in various flavors, which allows people to take them to go. While Tru-Fruit was doing okay, Nehi and Orange Crush were more popular.
He sees that chocolate drinks are becoming more popular, so he decides to invent his own bottled chocolate milk…..but first has to learn about the chocolate business.
Sam Hinkle continues to work on his invention of chocolate syrup by turning up the heat and sealing the bottle immediately.
Natale Olivieri gets to work on his own chocolate beverage. He needs something that doesn’t need refrigeration, so he adds whey to the mixture. That still doesn’t work, so with pressure on his shoulders, he must come up with something else.
Sam and his team finally have their syrup, which launches in 1926! It becomes very popular and soda shops are clamoring for it. However, it is still not available in stores.
Natale is ready to give up….until he sees his wife jarring tomato sauce….using the hot fill method. He decides to give it a whirl with his recipe and it works……and thanks to the song Indian Love Call, the drink we now know as Yoo-Hoo was invented.
Yoo-Hoo comes out in 1928 and is available to go. However, the FDA makes them switch it to a chocolate drink due to it not having milk product. It becomes a huge hit all over New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Sam and his team try Yoo-Hoo for themselves and decide to sell their syrup in stores to get a leg up in the competition. They release it in 1928 for nine cents a pop and recipes on the label….putting them back on the map.
In Wisconsin, Charles Sanna is trying to help his family milk business afloat. He wanted to figure out a way to keep the business going since fresh milk sales are going down….he invents instant milk.
It is a bit gritty in cold liquid, but a hit when he adds it to hot coffee. Little does he know he now has invented something big.
He sends them to the military during the Korean war, which helped the business, but he had to promise to never under-deliver…..putting it all on the line.
Chocolate milk is now a popular beverage….and while Hershey is basking in the glory of this new treat, Nestle Quik threatens the competition by coming out with a powdered non-refrigerated version of chocolate syrup.
Charles ends up deeply in debt and has excess product, so when he sees his partner making hot chocolate with Quik and hot milk—ending in disaster—he decides to use his powdered milk to make a hot cocoa mix that can be used with hot water.
Natale’s business is booming but he wants MORE with expansion. Thanks to a chance meeting with a country club celebrity, he gets his wish…..someone Yankees fans know as Yogi Berra. He is a big fan of the drink, and the two men decide to make Yogi the public face of Yoo-Hoo. In 1956, it becomes the drink of champions.
Charles continues to work on his powdered hot cocoa and ends up with a winner….Brown Swiss….which we currently know now as Swiss Miss.
He sells it to commercial airlines in 1956, but it became way too popular that people kept stealing it from flights. Once it goes to grocery stores in 1963, SWISS Miss becomes a huge hit.
Once it is released, Hershey comes out with its own, but they require milk for the product.
Not to be outdone, Charles decides to once again reinvent the wheel…..by adding marshmallows.
Meanwhile, Yoo-Hoo is such a hit that Natale sells it for millions, retires and the brand, which is brought by Pepsi-Co becomes global.
The powdered drink business is now worth billions, as is the chocolate syrup business.
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