Who created the first modern chocolate bar in 1847 using a cocoa press?

Joseph Fry created the first modern chocolate bar in 1847 using a cocoa press.

Fry’s company, J. S. Fry & Sons of Bristol, England, combined cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and sugar into a moldable chocolate paste. The cocoa press had been patented by Coenraad van Houten in 1828, helping manufacturers separate cocoa solids from cocoa butter.

Earlier chocolate was usually consumed as a drink. Fry’s innovation made it possible to produce a solid, molded product that could be eaten like a confection. The company later became associated with well-known British chocolate brands, including Fry’s Chocolate Cream.

The 1847 date is often described as the birth of the modern chocolate bar, although chocolate confectionery continued to evolve through later inventions such as milk chocolate and improved refining methods. Fry is sometimes confused with John Cadbury, whose company also became an important British chocolate maker but did not create this first modern bar.