Caffarel is a

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 ...

-manufacturing company based in

Luserna San Giovanni Luserna San Giovanni (Occitan language, Occitan: ''Luzerna e San Jan'', Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ''Luserna e San Gioann'', French: Lucerne Saint-Jean) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italy, Italia ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, which is a subsidiary of

Lindt & Sprüngli Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG, doing business as Lindt, is a Swiss chocolatier and confectionery company founded in 1845 and known for its chocolate truffles and chocolate bars, among other sweets. It is based in Kilchberg, Zürich, K ...

. The company was founded in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

during the 19th century. According to the company, it was founded in 1826 when Pierre Paul Caffarel (1801–1871) converted an ex-tannery into a chocolate factory and invented

Gianduiotto ''Gianduiotto'' (; ) is a chocolate originating in the Piedmont region of Italy. ''Gianduiotti'' are shaped like ingots and individually wrapped in a (usually) gold- or silver-colored foil cover. It is a specialty of Turin, and takes its name ...

in 1852. In 1826 Caffarel purchased a revolutionary industrial machine, invented by Bozelli of Genoa, which was able to produce more than 300 kilos a day (a record then). Thanks to this machine, he established the first company to sell large quantities of solid chocolate. The second commercial success was Gianduja. In 1852 Caffarel introduced a new type of chocolate made by mixing cocoa, sugar and ''Tonda Gentile delle Langhe'' hazelnuts (renowned for their taste). In 1865 he began producing this unique specialty. An alternative account is that chocolate production on the site was started by Giovanni Martino Bianchini, a chocolatier from

Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...

, who had invented a water-powered machine for the production of chocolate, and the factory was purchased by Paul Caffarel on May 1, 1832. Caffarel was the only producer of chocolate using mechanisation in Turin until 1851, and later became Caffarel Prochet & Co. when

Michele Prochet Michele () is an Italian male given name, akin to the English male name Michael. Michele (usually pronounced ), is also an English female given name that is derived from the French Michèle. It is a variant spelling of the more common (and iden ...

joined the company. However it is unlikely that Prochet invented gianduia paste in 1852, as is often stated, since he would have been 13 years old in that year. The company's ties with the Caffarel family ended by 1897, and Prochet died in 1904. The company changed hands more than once in the early 20th century, in one case following its bankruptcy. There were multiple claims as to the originator of gianduia, and insufficient evidence to confirm any of them conclusively, nor the date of the invention.

References

External links

Company website
{{Chocolate companies of Italy Companies based in Piedmont Italian chocolate companies Luserna San Giovanni European chocolate bars