I love almost every type of chocolate bar or chocolate-covered confection from Hershey’s, whether it’s milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or those with almonds or caramel eat them all with a Kiss! However, countless companies produce a wide variety of chocolate treats that I would gladly accept. To name a few: Wilbur Buds, Mars bars, Milky Way, Snickers, 3 Musketeers, Nestlé Crunch, Mallo Cups, Smoothies, Reese Cups, Clark Bar, 5th Avenue, Butterfinger, Almond Joy, Mounds, Asher’s, Cadbury, Lindt, Whitman, Ferrero Rocher, and Godiva. I may also have overlooked some Swiss or German brands that I have likely sampled over the years, but their names escape me. What can I say? I am getting older! If I missed your personal favorites, I apologize!
However, that brings me to the crux of the question: What is my personal favorite when I think of fine chocolate? One particular brand immediately comes to mind, and it’s not made by any of the companies I’ve previously mentioned. Care to venture a guess? You might be surprised when I reveal the answer. Perhaps this brand stands out to me because it reminds me of my youth, when I used my entrepreneurial skills to sell chocolate bars to my older siblings for their high school fundraisers. Of course, I charged a price: $1 for each box of 42 bars, or two candy bars that usually cost fifty cents each. What can I say? They were all embarrassed to do it because it wasn’t considered “cool.” Well, not to brag, but I think it was because the neighbors knew me and liked me. One person’s embarrassment was another’s good fortune. “I’ll gladly take two candy bars, please—one with almonds and one without. Thank you!” Have you guessed it yet?
The Company was founded in Chicago in 1939 by Edmond and Arnold Ople. Edmond was the oldest of eight children when his father passed away. He dropped out of school and began selling cocoa to bakeries around New York City, making trips with a horse-drawn carriage. His younger brother Arnold, joined him in 1922 and formed the company E & A Opler, Inc. by moving to Chicago. The company grew from selling packaged cocoa powder and various other chocolate products, both in retail and movie locations in 1939. Around 1949 the company pioneered chocolate fundraising with the, Worlds Finest Milk Chocolte with Almond bar.
Each carton contained 40 bars, which were sold for $0.50 each, and the rest is history. As a point of interest, in 1999, they celebrated 50 years of fundraising, having sold over 5 billion bars. At that time, they were one of only 11 chocolate manufacturers in the United States. By 2017, World’s Finest Chocolate had raised over $4 billion for their fundraising customers.
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