Circa 2018. Cadbury celebrated seven decades in India with a new tagline: Kuch Accha Ho Jaye, Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye. Few, including the brand that had shouldered much of chocolate’s rise as an unparalleled sweet treat globally, could fathom how the new phase would rework the wheels for chocolate supremacy. Chocolate by then was already a well-known, beloved treat worldwide – and often ruled the roost when it came to celebratory treats, both as a drink and food. So what is the story of chocolate and how did this once rare commodity become a part of celebrations worldwide.
How did chocolate – a 5,000-year-old ingredient that spent most of its years as a drink rather than an eat – garner such glory? Curiously, and quizzically too, the history of chocolate or Xocōlātl began right at the top. Since its discovery by the Olmec people, chocolate remained a privy of the privileged. Worshiped as the personification of Quetzalcoatl (god of wisdom), this uniquely bitter and oddly sweet concoction, despite its fame as this miraculous antidote, flourished in power corridors. Even the army could have a swig only while going to a war or winning it. Thus, earning chocolate its famous moniker, Theobroma Cacao – gift of the gods or food of gods.