When it comes to Britons' favorite snacks, biscuits top the list, but chocolate is a close second - with a 1% difference between the two in a recent survey by the British Heart Foundation. Given the popularity of chocolate brands such as Cadbury, Nestlé and Mars, this result is not surprising; Britons are undoubtedly sweet tooths. But did you know that only one bar of chocolate is made from British-grown cocoa beans? Was that bar a gift to a specific member of the royal family?
In a March 2020 episode of BBC Radio 4's history podcast You're Dead to Me , host Greg Jenner found that in Britain's temperate climate, due to the specific temperatures and environment required by the cocoa tree, It is almost impossible to grow cocoa trees. However, in 1932, a group of workers at the Rowntree factory were lucky enough to successfully grow pineapples in a greenhouse after experimenting with them.
However, their success proved limited, such as harvesting cocoa pods from the trees; only one. However, these cocoa beans are not wasted. They were made into a small chocolate bar and given to Queen Elizabeth II when she was a princess. As travel website Visit York points out, this makes the Queen the only person to have tasted 100% British chocolate. So jealous.
The Queen clearly loves chocolate. As former royal chef Darren McGrady told Reader's Digest , Her Majesty is okay with "anything we put on the menu that contains chocolate." However, she prefers dark chocolate. "She's not a big fan of milk or white chocolate," Maddie continued, noting that the Queen prefers chocolate bars with 60 percent cocoa content or higher.
The chef also revealed that Her Majesty's absolute go-to snack is Bendicks Bittermints, which are mint gummies containing 95% dark chocolate. The product received a Royal Warrant in 1962, which would make sense if it was a favorite of the Queen.
