The Ghirardelli Chocolate Company is a United States division of Swiss candymaker Lindt & Sprüngli. The company was founded by and is named after Italian chocolatier Domingo Ghirardelli, who, after working in South America, moved to California. The Ghirardelli Chocolate Company was incorporated in 1852, and is the second-oldest chocolate company in the United States, after Baker's Chocolate.
In 1817, Domenico Ghirardelli was born in Rapallo, Ital...
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The Ghirardelli Chocolate Company is a United States division of Swiss candymaker Lindt & Sprüngli. The company was founded by and is named after Italian chocolatier Domingo Ghirardelli, who, after working in South America, moved to California. The Ghirardelli Chocolate Company was incorporated in 1852, and is the second-oldest chocolate company in the United States, after Baker's Chocolate.
In 1817, Domenico Ghirardelli was born in Rapallo, Italy, to an "exotic foods importer" and his wife. Domenico received his first education in the chocolate trade when he was apprenticed to a local candymaker as a child. By the time he was 20, Ghirardelli sailed to Uruguay with his wife to work in a chocolate and coffee business. A year later, Ghirardelli moved to Lima, Peru, and opened a confectionery store. In 1847, nine years later, James Lick (Ghirardelli's neighbor) moved to San Francisco with 600 pounds of Ghirardelli's chocolate. Ghirardelli remained and continued to operate his store in...
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