Piemonte: administration and business history of the most famous Italian Chocolate "district"

In 1828 Van Houten, in Holland, introduces the modern process for the cocoa powder and in 1847 Fry company creates a soft and easy to shape paste that cooled in molds became chocolate bars. In Italy, in the same period, there was a low interest and consumption of chocolate. However, in this period there was the creation of some of the most important chocolate Italian industries, in particular in Piemonte. In fact, it seems that in seventeenth century, the cocoa imported into Italy, and precisely in Piemonte, by Catherine married to Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, was a success and became typical drink of the aristocracy. Our study focuses on the analysis of the three most important chocolate industries in Piemonte that, in period between 1828 and 1979, had their greatest success: Caffarel, Novi and Ferrero. The analysis will show that their success will be mainly due to the entrepreneurial spirit and the ability to adapt to environmental and social changes.