Which Swiss chocolatier invented milk chocolate in 1875?

Daniel Peter was the Swiss chocolatier who first successfully produced milk chocolate in 1875.

Peter worked in Vevey and spent years trying to combine chocolate with milk. Fresh milk introduced too much water, causing the mixture to spoil or develop mould. His neighbour Henri Nestlé had developed a process for making condensed milk, which solved the moisture problem and allowed Peter to combine cocoa, cocoa butter and sugar with a stable milk ingredient.

Peter brought the first successful product to market in 1875, although it was initially intended largely as a chocolate drink. The milk chocolate people associate with eating bars took further refinement. In 1887, Peter launched Gala Peter, an early eating milk-chocolate brand; “gala” came from the Greek word for milk.

Henri Nestlé was essential to the process because of his condensed-milk technology, but he was not the chocolatier credited with inventing milk chocolate. Milton Hershey and John Cadbury later helped popularize milk chocolate in other markets. Peter and Nestlé eventually became business partners, and Nestlé later acquired the Peter, Cailler and Kohler brands.