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He was born in Amsterdam. His father was Casparus van Houten and his mother was Arnoldina Koster.
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Van Houten never went to school, so he started working with his dad. His dad just started working with cacao beans. He was only 5 years old at the time.
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Casparus van Houten opened his factory in 1815. This was the first dutch chocolate factory that opened and leads the way for all other factories.
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In 1828, Van Houten invented the cocoa press. Some fat from cocoa butter was separated by pressing it with alkali, so the acids were neutralized and fibres softened and were broken up. The product was fluffy powder that was full of flavor and easy to digest. The powder is able to be compressed into a mold for a chocolate bar and used for coating chocolate candies.
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In 1850, van Houten started to expand the factories to the Netherlands. He also started to export his cocoa powder to the UK, France, and Germany.
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When Casparus van Houten died, he left his son in charge of the business and made sure it would continue to grow.
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The van Houten business continued to grow, so they started expanding into Germany, the UK, France and the US.
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After van Houten's death, the company was sold and handed over to W.R. Grace. After that, it was sold numerous times and handed off. Although it was sold, it was kept under the van Houten brand.
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Van Houten has become widely known for his cocoa powder in chocolate drinks. In fact, so popular that van Houten has become a brand. The brand is represented throughout the world.
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Coenraad van Houten's son Casparus, named after Coenraad's father, had a gift for marketing. He made the first commercial film. The commercial consisted of a person that was tired and as soon as he ate a van Houten chocolate bar, he was very energetic and genuinely felt well.
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By 1900, van Houten was one of the top ten most famous brands in the world. They are now advertising in newspapers.
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The brand expands its factories into Germany.
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There is now a new factory built in France.
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A new factory is built in the UK. Although they are expanding they still haven't gone too far from the original location.
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The brand decides to expand east into Singapore.
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Van Houten Chocolates celebrates 108 years of business. Throughout the years the brand has accepted many awards and gold medals.
