World's Finest Chocolate 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 ...
company based in
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
.
[ ] The company, founded in 1939, has become a large
fundraising
Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...
organization in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
which typically holds fundraisers for school districts.
History
World's Finest Chocolate was founded under the name ''Cook Chocolate Company'' by Edmond Opler Sr. in 1939.
He started the division that produced chocolate bars for fundraising in 1949 and called it "World's Finest Chocolate".
In 1972, the company's name was changed to "World's Finest Chocolate". In 1985, the company moved into a 500,000-square-foot factory.
Opler's son, Edmond Jr., has run the company since Edmond Sr. retired in 1988.
In 2006, World's Finest Chocolate acquired the company Queen Anne, a brand of
cordial cherries. In June 2015, the company acquired Market Day, a frozen food store.
In 2021, World's Finest Chocolate started a monthly $2K Giveaway for teachers.
The company also donated around 10 million chocolate bars to
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
doctors and nurses.
Corporate affairs
The company specializes in
Fundraising
Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...
events.
It manufactures chocolate bars from a cocoa farm in
St. Lucia
Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...
.
[ ] and has a production site in
South Chicago
South Chicago, formerly known as Ainsworth, is one of the 77 community areas of Chicago, Illinois.
This chevron-shaped community is one of Chicago's 16 lakefront neighborhoods near the southern rim of Lake Michigan 10 miles south of downtow ...
.
Products
The core of the company's business is selling chocolate bars in bulk for
school fundraisers and
corporate gifts.
World's Finest Chocolate is one of the largest suppliers of the fundraising chocolate market. According to the company it has sold more than 6 billion chocolate bars, their best-known product,
and helped their customers raise more than USD 4.4 billion since 1949.
References
Further reading
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External links
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American chocolate companies
Food and drink companies based in Chicago
Food and drink companies established in 1939
Fundraising
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