# World's Finest Chocolate

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**World's Finest Chocolate** is a [chocolate](/source/Chocolate) company based in [Chicago](/source/Chicago), [Illinois](/source/Illinois).[1] The company, founded in 1939, has become a large [fundraising](/source/Fundraising) organization in the [United States](/source/United_States) which typically holds fundraisers for [school districts](/source/School_district).

## History

World's Finest Chocolate was founded under the name *Cook Chocolate Company* by Edmond Opler Sr. in 1939.

He started the division that produced chocolate bars for fundraising in 1949 and called it "World's Finest Chocolate".

In 1972, the company's name was changed to "World's Finest Chocolate". In 1985, the company moved into a 500,000-square-foot factory.[2] Opler's son, Edmond Jr., has run the company since Edmond Sr. retired in 1988.[3]

In 2006, World's Finest Chocolate acquired the company Queen Anne, a brand of [cordial cherries](/source/Cordial_cherry). In June 2015, the company acquired Market Day, a frozen food store.[2]

In 2021, World's Finest Chocolate started a monthly $2K Giveaway for teachers.[4][5] The company also donated around 10 million chocolate bars to [COVID-19](/source/COVID-19) doctors and nurses.[6]

## Corporate affairs

The company specializes in [Fundraising](/source/Fundraising) events.[7] It manufactures chocolate bars from a cocoa farm in [St. Lucia](/source/St._Lucia).[8] and has a production site in [South Chicago](/source/South_Chicago,_Chicago).[7]

## Products

The core of the company's business is selling chocolate bars in bulk for [school fundraisers](/source/Fundraising) and [corporate gifts](/source/Gift).[1]

World's Finest Chocolate is one of the largest suppliers of the fundraising chocolate market. According to the company it has sold more than 6 billion chocolate bars, their best-known product,[1][8] and helped their customers raise more than USD 4.4 billion since 1949.[4]

## References

1. Schmeltzer, John (February 7, 2006). ["Chocolate firm breaks mold ; World's Finest expands into retail"](https://www.chicagotribune.com/2006/02/07/chocolate-firm-breaks-mold/). *Chicago Tribune*. Retrieved May 20, 2012. (subscription required)

1. ["School fundraising a billion-dollar business"](https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-back-to-school-fundraising-sales-0804-biz-20150803-story.html). *Chicago Tribune*. Retrieved 2022-07-01.

1. Teresa Jimenez, ["Edmond Opler Sr., Candymaker"](https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-08-30-9508300044-story.html) (obituary), *Chicago Tribune*, August 30, 1995.

1. Allen, Shannon J. ["'Outstanding educator' wins $2,000"](https://www.sandmountainreporter.com/free_share/article_a0af42b0-891d-11ec-9716-9b8dfe3883c1.html). *sandmountainreporter.com*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20220307161744/https://www.sandmountainreporter.com/free_share/article_a0af42b0-891d-11ec-9716-9b8dfe3883c1.html) Mar 7, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-07-01.

1. Amanda Aguilar (2021-11-10). ["Dinuba teacher wins $2,000 in national educator contest"](https://abc30.com/dinuba-high-school-brittany-sumpter-teacher-wins-prize-worlds-finest-chocolate/11216449/). *ABC30 Fresno*. Retrieved 2022-07-01.

1. ["World's Finest Chocolate aims to donate 10M chocolate bars to COVID-19 frontliners"](https://www.candyindustry.com/articles/89078-worlds-finest-chocolate-aims-to-donate-10m-chocolate-bars-to-covid-19-frontliners). *www.candyindustry.com*. Retrieved 2022-07-01.

1. Hsu, Judy (2015-02-13). ["Made in Chicago: World's Finest Chocolate"](https://abc7chicago.com/worlds-finest-chocolate-chicago-fundraising/515061/). *ABC7 Chicago*. Retrieved 2022-07-01.

1. Plunkett, Jack W. (2008). [*Plunkett's Food Industry Almanac*](https://books.google.com/books?id=Ckx-w7yuvTUC&q=%22world%27s+finest+chocolate%22&pg=PT568). Pluncket Research, Ltd. ISBN 9781593921064. Retrieved May 20, 2012. ISBN 1593924496

## Further reading

- Miller, David (September 15, 2011). ["Broadcast group works with World's Finest Chocolate on Guinness record-setting campaign"](https://cdispatch.com/news/2011-09-15/broadcast-group-works-with-worlds-finest-chocolate-on-guinness-record-setting-campaign/). *The Dispatch*. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
- ["Local Company Seeks Record For World's Largest Chocolate Bar"](http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/09/13/local-company-seeks-record-for-worlds-largest-chocolate-bar/). CBS News (Chicago). September 13, 2011. Retrieved May 20, 2012.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [World's Finest Chocolate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_Finest_Chocolate) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_Finest_Chocolate?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.