American-made chocolate and cocoa products number in the hundreds. There is a fascinating story behind these wonderful products.

The story of chocolate,  51  far back as we know it, begins with the discovery of America. Until 1492, the Old World knew  52  at all about the delicious and stimulating flavor that was to become the favorite of millions.

The Court of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella got its first look at the principal  53  of chocolate when Columbus returned in triumph from America and laid before the Spanish throne many strange and wonderful things. Among these were  54  dark brown beans that looked like almonds and seemed most unpromising. They were cocoa beans, today's source of all our chocolate and cocoa.

The King and Queen never dreamed how important cocoa beans could be, and it remained for Hernando Cortez, the great Spanish explorer, to grasp the  55  possibilities of the New World offerings.  56  his conquest of Mexico, Cortez found the Aztec Indians using cocoa beans in the preparation of the royal drink, "chocolate," meaning warm liquid.

However, Montezuma's chocolate was very bitter, and the Spaniards did not find it  57  their taste. To make it more  58  to Europeans, Cortez and his countrymen conceived the idea of sweetening it with cane sugar.

The new drink quickly won friends, especially among the Spanish aristocracy. Spain wisely proceeded to plant cacao in its overseas colonies,  59  gave birth to a very profitable business. Remarkably enough, the Spanish succeeded in  60  the art of the cocoa industry a secret from the rest of Europe for nearly a hundred years.