Whitman's
Whitman’s is one of the largest and oldest chocolate manufacturers in the world. The company is based in Philadelphia in the US state of Pennsylvania . Whitman's is now part of the Russell Stover Candies group of companies in Kansas City, Missouri .
history
Originally a confection and fruit retailer founded by the young Stephen F. Whitman in Philadelphia in 1842 . Whitman's chocolate was very popular with sailors and their wives , as the sailors brought home fruit and cocoa from their travels , with which Whitman conjured up his specialties and finally sold his products in Europe .
Whitman's produced his first sugar plum chocolate with raisins in 1854 . Whitman's began advertising in newspapers shortly before the American Civil War . The company prospered, and by 1866 owned an entire building on 12th and Market Streets in Philadelphia.
The US military was also supplied with chocolate during wartime. Millions of tablets were shipped to US bases during the First World War. During the Second World War, women at Whitman's began to write words of encouragement on sticky notes to the front and put them in the box for the servants.
In the early 1960s, Whitman's was acquired by the condensed milk manufacturer Pet , Inc., who wanted to turn their company into a food company. In 1978, Pet was acquired by the corporate conglomerate IC Industries . This was renamed after a reorientation of the group in Whitman Corporation. In 1991, Pet and thus Whitman's were separated from the group and become independent again. In 1993, Pet sold the Whitman's brand to Russel Stover Candies.
In 2014, the Whitman's brand and parent company Russell Stover were taken over by the Swiss chocolate company Lindt & Sprüngli .