The Emperors of Chocolate

Why it’s on the list: Brenner got inside both Hershey and Mars — two secretive private companies — and came back with the candy industry: sourcing, formulation, shelf war and two incompatible corporate cultures.

Where I heard about it

• A reply to @WillManidis — in the thread under his question “what is the single best book you can read that will explain an entire industry?” (June 2025). The full set of replies is on what is the single best book… (tweet).

Connections

• Retail — The shelf the whole fight is over.
• Supply Chain — Cocoa sourcing and manufacturing, which is half the book.
• Competition — Two companies defined against each other.
• what is the single best book… (tweet) — the thread this recommendation came from.