Daniel Peter (9 March 1836 – 4 November 1919) was a Swiss chocolatier and entrepreneur who founded Peter's Chocolate. A neighbour of

Henri Nestlé Henri Nestlé () (born Heinrich Nestle; 10 August 1814 – 7 July 1890) was a German-Swiss confectioner and the founder of Nestlé, the world's largest food and beverage company. Early life Heinrich Nestle was born on 10 August 1814 in Frankfu ...

Vevey Vevey (; frp, Vevê; german: label=former German, Vivis) is a town in Switzerland in the canton of Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne. The German name Vivis is no longer commonly used. It was the seat of the district o ...

, he was one of the first chocolatiers to make

milk chocolate Milk chocolate is a solid chocolate confectionery containing cocoa, sugar and milk. Chocolate was originally sold and consumed as a beverage in pre-Columbian times, and upon its introduction to Western Europe. Major milk chocolate producers in ...

and is credited for inventing it, in 1875 or 1876, by adding

powdered milk Powdered milk, also called milk powder, dried milk, or dry milk, is a manufactured dairy product made by evaporating milk to dryness. One purpose of drying milk is to preserve it; milk powder has a far longer shelf life than liquid milk and do ...

to the chocolate.

Life

Peter was born on 9 March 1836 in Moudon, in the

canton of Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital c ...

, to Jean Samuel Peter, a

butcher A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale food establishm ...

, and Jeanne-Louise Laurent, in a family of Alsatian origin. He began his commercial apprenticeship in

, where in 1856 he established the

candle-making Candle making was developed independently in many places throughout history. Dipped candles made from tallow were made by the Romans beginning about 1000 BCE. Evidence for candles made from whale fat in China dates back to the Qin Dynasty (221� ...

business ''Frères Peter,'' but soon he diversified his business to include chocolate fabrication, as demand for his candles fell, owing to the introduction of affordable

kerosene lamp A kerosene lamp (also known as a paraffin lamp in some countries) is a type of lighting device that uses kerosene as a fuel. Kerosene lamps have a wick or mantle as light source, protected by a glass chimney or globe; lamps may be used on a ...

s. He married in 1863 to Fanny-Louise Cailler, a daughter of François-Louis Cailler, also a chocolatier. Uncle Sam, the Connaisseur

When Peter came up with the process of making milk chocolate in 1857, he had a problem with removing the water from the milk, which caused

mildew Mildew is a form of fungus. It is distinguished from its closely related counterpart, mould, largely by its colour: moulds appear in shades of black, blue, red, and green, whereas mildew is white. It appears as a thin, superficial growth consi ...

to form. It was not until he enlisted the cooperation of

, then a baby-food manufacturer who had invented a milk-condensation process, that finally, in 1875, after seven years of effort, he was able to bring the product onto the market. However, it is only after many years of fine-tuning that the original formula was developed and, in 1887, the ''Gala Peter'' brand was finally launched. Daniel Peter called his product 'Gala' after the Greek word meaning 'milk'. From these developments, Switzerland soon dominated the chocolate market. Earlier, in 1896, Daniel Peter wrote: Daniel Peter also launched the ''Delta Peter'' brand, which consisted of milk and cocoa powder that could be added to water to make a chocolate drink. Peter used a triangular packaging, with each individual triangle of pressed powder to be used for one cup. Earlier, in 1879, Daniel Peter and Henri Nestlé formed a partnership that organised the Nestlé Company, eventually one of the largest of Europe-based confection industries, into existence. In 1904, he eventually merged with the Kohler company. All Peter, Cailler and Kohler brands were bought by Nestlé in 1929. Daniel Peter died on 4 November 1919 in Vevey.

References

1836 births 1919 deaths 19th-century Swiss businesspeople Swiss chocolatiers Businesspeople in confectionery People from Broye-Vully District People from Vevey Nestlé people Candlemakers 19th-century Swiss inventors {{food- -stub