Chocolates Garoto S.A. is a Brazilian

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

manufacturer. Its headquarters are located in

Vila Velha Vila Velha (; ) is a Brazilian municipality situated on the coast of the state of Espírito Santo, in the Southeast Region of Brazil. It is part of the Greater Vitória Metropolitan Area and covers an area of , of which is within the urban a ...

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attracti ...

. The company was founded in 1929 by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

immigrant Heinrich Meyerfreund and acquired by

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

in 2002.

History

Early history and launch of Garoto (1929-2001)

VISTA PARCIAL DE VILA VELHA ES - panoramio

The company Chocolates Garoto was founded on August 16, 1929, by the German immigrant Heinrich Meyerfreund, with the name of candy factory H. Meyerfreund & Cia., in a warehouse located in Prainha, a neighborhood located in the city of Vila Velha in the Brazilian state Espírito Santo. Garoto started by producing the Pastilha Garoto

mint Mint or The Mint may refer to: Plants * Lamiaceae, the mint family ** ''Mentha'', the genus of plants commonly known as "mint" Coins and collectibles * Mint (facility), a facility for manufacturing coins * Mint condition, a state of like-new ...

. The first candies were first sold at the local tram stops in Vila Velha and subsequently distributed to commercial clients, both in the capital and in other major cities of the state. In 1934, Heinrich Meyerfreund received an inheritance from his parents and bought machines for the production of chocolates. Two years later, he obtained financing to set up a more modern factory in the Glória neighborhood, where Garoto's industrial park still stands today. With new infrastructure and chocolate-based products, the company entered a phase of strong growth and began selling beyond the limits of Espírito Santo. In 1938, business was boosted when Günther Zennig joined the company. He brought in new investments and expanded and modernized the production and commercial structure of the company, bringing with him a new entrepreneurial vision for Garoto.

Acquisition and recent history (2002-today)

In 2002,

acquired Garoto for around $240 million. In 2004 however, the sale was vetoed by the Brazilian competition authority ( CADE) in order to keep a healthy level of competition in the domestic chocolate market. In the following years, Garoto was therefore owned by Nestlé but operated separately. Nestlé continued to explore options for a full integration and in 2016, after more than 10 years of negotiation, the company announced to be close to signing a deal with CADE for a full merger. The conditions included that the company has to sell several brands to avoid a market concentration above 40%.

Products

Today, Garoto is one of Brazil's largest chocolate manufacturers in the world. It exports its chocolate to various countries. Garoto's chocolate candy bars are distributed by a variety of distributors.

Walgreens Walgreens is an American pharmacy store chain. It is the second largest in the United States, behind CVS Pharmacy. As of March 2025, the company operated more than 8,700 stores in the U.S. Walgreens has been the subject of a number of lawsuit ...

had sold Garoto's candies under the brand name of Regal Dynasty, but has recently switched to a Polish supplier.

Sponsorships

On January 16, 2013, the company signed sponsorship of 200 million reais with FIFA and the CBF to be the official chocolate of the Confederations Cup 2013 and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

References

External links

* Brazilian chocolate companies Companies based in Espírito Santo Food and drink companies established in 1929 Brazilian brands Nestlé brands Vila Velha 2002 mergers and acquisitions 1929 establishments in Brazil Brazilian subsidiaries of foreign companies {{portal, Companies