Book #42 |
Book: The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars | Author: Joël Glenn Brenner | |
| Source: Library loan Format: Print |
Pages: 367 | Duration: 05/27/25 – 06/02/25 (7 days) | |
| Rating: ★★★★★ | Genres: nonfiction, food, history, business, biography | ||
| 📕10-word summary: Learn the striking differences between the Hershey vs. Mars corporations. 🖌6-word review: Easy-to-read inside scoop — cut-throat global competition. |
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| 💭Favorite quote: “Candy corn was originally called chicken feed.” | |||
| 🎓Some new-to-me words: blitzkrieged, longitudinal conches, skid, naïf, chimerical | |||
| Description:* Corporate candy giants Milton Hershey and Forrest Mars built business empires out of one of the world’s most magical, sought-after substances: chocolate. Joël Glenn Brenner — the first person to ever gain access to the highly secretive companies of Hershey and Mars — spins a unique story that takes us inside a world as mysterious as Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Packed with flavorful stories and outrageous characters that give the true scoop on this real-life candyland, it’s a delectable read for business buffs and chocoholics alike.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis. | |||
| Thoughts: This is my 6th nonfiction book this year, and I read it on a long-ago recommendation by my brother-in-law. Being extremely interested in both chocolate and business, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I learned a lot of things about the chocolate-making business as well as the Hershey and Mars families. My biggest “Aha! moment” was when they described Tootsie Rolls as “chocolate-flavored taffy.” I’ve never thought of a Tootsie Roll as taffy, but I’ll never not think of it as that from now on. The only negative about this book (and it’s neither the book nor the author’s fault) is that it was published in 1998, and I couldn’t help thinking about most of the statistics or processes described: “I wonder what they are now, 27 years later.” Thanks, Jimmy, for the recommendation. | |||
See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.