York and Chololate: Uncomfortable History and Global Connections

The city of York’s industrial heritage played a significant role in the development of the British cocoa industry, not only via its situation astride major waterborne and later railway routes, but also as a nexus for British confectionery companies including Tuke’s, Craven’s, Rowntree’s and Terry’s. In the UK at large, existing heritage narratives tend to portray the role of chocolate manufacturers in a somewhat hagiographical and paternalistic light, particularly the philanthropy of the Rowntree, Cadbury and Fry Quaker families. 

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Chocolate is often referenced in academic and popular history to attract a broader readership, even in texts to which it bears tangential relation. Beyond its suitability for wordplay – puns involving ‘dark’, ‘rich’, ‘bitter’ and ‘sweet’ appear unsurprisingly often in the literature – its connotations of luxury and exotic sensuality render it a fertile topic through which to attract media and public attention. Simultaneously, as a product widely available across the world, chocolate holds a personal connection to each person. It is imbued with a domestic nostalgia, and consumers are often divided over which kind of chocolate is ‘best’, be it in terms of ingredients, brand or cocoa origin.

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Nonetheless, Uncomfortable York (UnYork) seeks to assist in critically analysing our discourses surrounding cocoa and chocolate. To unpick York’s role here requires engagement with the discussions of race, class and gender at the heart of Uncomfortable Oxford’s mission. Chocolate is intrinsically an international commodity; whilst cocoa originates from Central America, over 70% of global cultivation today is based in West African countries, particularly in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. The modern confectionery industry blends cocoa sourced from farms in locations as far flung as Papua New Guinea, Cameroon and Guatemala. The proliferation of cocoa across the equator bears significant ties to economic initiatives connected to European empire, primarily for Spanish, French, German, British and Belgian manufacture. To this day the production of cocoa reflects its colonial roots, as producers in the global South are often separated from the concentration of cocoa refinery in the global North, though companies such as Fire Mountain, York Cocoa Works and One One Cacao seek to challenge this through endeavours to share expertise and equipment.

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In many ways the York tour itself will reflect those other branches. Centring on York’s industrial heritage and global significance as ‘chocolate city’, we seek to provide a platform upon which York residents can address and discuss the colonial legacies inherent to the local built environment. Prominent stops will include previous manufactory premises, properties purchased and endowed via the cocoa industry, as well as the multitude of landmarks created and/or named after members of the families. In doing so, our guides can ask questions that provoke new ways of seeing the city landscape and its history, encouraging attendees to bring their personal experiences and views to the group discussion.

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