Daniel Peter (9 March 1836 – 4 November 1919) was a Swiss

chocolatier A chocolatier ( ; ; ) is a person or company that makes and sells chocolate confections. Chocolatiers are distinct from chocolate makers, who create chocolate from cacao beans and other raw ingredients. Chocolatiers work artisanally with pre- ...

and entrepreneur who founded Peter's Chocolate. A neighbour of Henri Nestlé in

Vevey Vevey (; ; ) is a town in Switzerland in the Vaud, canton of Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Leman, near Lausanne. The German name Vivis is no longer commonly used. It was the seat of the Vevey (district), district of the same name until 200 ...

, he was one of the first chocolatiers to make

milk chocolate Milk chocolate is a form of solid chocolate containing Chocolate liquor, cocoa, sugar and milk. It is the most consumed types of chocolate, type of chocolate, and is used in a wide diversity of chocolate bar, bars, tablets and other confectione ...

and is credited for inventing it, in 1875 or 1876, by adding powdered milk to the chocolate.

Life

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

canton of Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms bears the motto "Liberté et patrie" on a white-green bicolou ...

, to Jean Samuel Peter, a

butcher A butcher is a person who may Animal slaughter, 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 ...

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

, where in 1856 he established the candle-making 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 lamps. He married in 1863 to Fanny-Louise Cailler, a daughter of François-Louis Cailler, also a chocolatier. 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 to form. It was not until he enlisted the cooperation of Henri Nestlé, 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 Chandlers 19th-century Swiss inventors {{food-bio-stub