Ritter Sport
Encyclopedia
Ritter Sport is a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 chocolate bar made by Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG. It is distributed throughout the world. Each 100 gram square-shaped bar is divided into 16 smaller squares, creating a four-by-four pattern. Large bars weighing 250 grams and 16.5 gram mini bars are also available, although in fewer varieties.

History

In 1912, Alfred Ritter and newly wedded wife, Clara, founded a chocolate factory in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....

-Bad Cannstatt. Later it introduced its own brand of chocolate named "Alrika (Alfred Ritter Cannstatt)." When production needs required a factory expansion, the company moved to Waldenbuch
Waldenbuch
Waldenbuch is a town in the district of Böblingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.It is the home of the popular Ritter Sport brand of chocolate.-Geographical location:...

 in 1930, a couple of miles outside Stuttgart. The chocolate brand Ritter's Sport Schokolade produced as the square tablet known today was launched in 1932 after Clara suggested creating a chocolate bar that would fit into every jacket pocket without breaking.

The company's current 3rd generation owners are Alfred T. Ritter and his sister Marli Hoppe-Ritter. In 1990 they launched project(s) "Cacaonica", which supports organic cocoa agriculture and reforestation in Nicaragua and "[Ritter Solar]" now the European market leader of solar thermal products and Large solar thermal systems. The Ritter company owns a CHP power plant
Cogeneration
Cogeneration is the use of a heat engine or a power station to simultaneously generate both electricity and useful heat....

 and buys additional electricity from renewable resources. The monomaterial chocolate packaging is designed to minimize its ecological footprint.

On the whole, their products are neither certified organic nor certified fair trade. However, in April 2008 they launched an organic product line called "Ritter Sport Bio".

The Ritter museum is a »Hommage to the square« - to describe the Sammlung Marli Hoppe-Ritter. The collection consists of nearly 600 paintings, objects, sculptures and graphic works, a breadth of painterly and sculptural confrontation with the square form used as the design for the Ritter chocolate.

Ritter's factory is located in Waldenbuch
Waldenbuch
Waldenbuch is a town in the district of Böblingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.It is the home of the popular Ritter Sport brand of chocolate.-Geographical location:...

, outside of Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....

. They have a shop and museum there as well that is open to visitors.

Varieties

  1. Vollmilch – Plain milk chocolate (Royal Blue Wrapper)
  2. Schoko-Duo – Plain milk chocolate and white chocolate (Royal Blue Wrapper with chocolate bar on outside)
  3. Dunkle Vollmilch – Plain medium dark chocolate, 40% cacao (Azure Blue Wrapper)
  4. Halbbitter – Plain dark chocolate, 50% cacao (Burgundy Wrapper)
  5. Edelbitter – Plain dark chocolate, 71% cacao (Pink Wrapper)
  6. Knusperkeks – Milk chocolate with a butter biscuit (Brown Wrapper)
  7. Pfefferminz – Chocolate with peppermint filling (Caribbean Green Wrapper)
  8. Joghurt – Yogurt (White Wrapper)
  9. Erdbeer Joghurt – Milk chocolate strawberry and yogurt filling (Light Pink Wrapper)
  10. Voll-Nuss – Milk chocolate with whole hazelnut
    Hazelnut
    A hazelnut is the nut of the hazel and is also known as a cob nut or filbert nut according to species. A cob is roughly spherical to oval, about 15–25 mm long and 10–15 mm in diameter, with an outer fibrous husk surrounding a smooth shell. A filbert is more elongated, being about twice...

    s (Brown Wrapper with Hazelnut-Pattern)
  11. Dunkle Voll-Nuss – Dark chocolate with whole hazelnuts (Dark Brown Wrapper with Hazelnut-Pattern)
  12. Weiße Voll-Nuss – White chocolate with whole hazelnuts (White/Cream Wrapper with Hazelnut-Pattern)
  13. Knusperflakes – Milk chocolate with corn flakes
    Corn flakes
    Corn flakes are a popular breakfast cereal originally manufactured by Kellogg's through the treatment of maize. A patent for the product was filed on May 31, 1895, and issued on April 14, 1896.-History:...

     (Golden Yellow Wrapper)
  14. Voll Erdnuss – Milk chocolate with whole peanut
    Peanut
    The peanut, or groundnut , is a species in the legume or "bean" family , so it is not a nut. The peanut was probably first cultivated in the valleys of Peru. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing tall...

    s (Orange Wrapper)
  15. Ganze Mandel – Milk chocolate with whole almonds (Dark Green Wrapper)
  16. Marzipan – Dark chocolate with marzipan
    Marzipan
    Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal. Persipan is a similar, yet less expensive product, in which the almonds are replaced by apricot or peach kernels...

     center (Red Wrapper)
  17. Cocos – Milk chocolate with flakes of coconut
    Coconut
    The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...

     in the center (Silver Wrapper)
  18. Trauben-Nuss – Milk chocolate with raisin
    Raisin
    Raisins are dried grapes. They are produced in many regions of the world. Raisins may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking and brewing...

    s and hazelnut pieces (Carmine Red Wrapper)
  19. Rum Trauben Nuss – Milk chocolate with rum
    Rum
    Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak barrels...

    -soaked raisins and hazelnut pieces (Crimson Red Wrapper)
  20. Cappuccino – Milk chocolate and cappuccino
    Cappuccino
    A cappuccino is an Italian coffee drink prepared with espresso, hot milk, and steamed-milk foam. The name comes from the Capuchin friars, referring to the colour of their habits.- Definition :...

     cream (Amber Wrapper)
  21. Alpenmilch – Special milk chocolate with high alpine milk proportion (Sky Blue Wrapper)
  22. Nugat – Milk chocolate with hazelnut-nougat
    Nougat
    Nougat is a variety of similar traditional confectioneries made with sugar and/or honey, roasted nuts , and sometimes chopped candied fruit. The consistency of nougat can range from soft and chewy to hard and crunchy depending on its composition, and it is used in a variety of candy bars and...

     center (Midnight Blue Wrapper)
  23. Feinherb à la Mousse au Chocolat – dark chocolate filled with chocolate mousse (Bistre Wrapper)
  24. Williams Birne Trüffel – dark chocolate filled with Poire Williams
    Poire Williams
    Poire Williams is a colorless eau de vie made from the Williams pear. It is generally served chilled as an after-dinner drink.Many producers of Poire Williams include an entire pear inside each bottle. This is achieved by attaching the bottle to a budding pear tree so that the pear will grow inside...

     pear brandy mousse
  25. Karamel Nuss - Milk Chocolate with butter caramel cream dropped hazelnuts and crispy rice (Golden yellow wrapper)
  26. Haselnuss – Milk chocolate with hazelnuts
  27. Praline – Milk chocolate with hazelnut praline filling. (Navy Wrapper)
  28. Neapolitan - Milk Chocolate with neapolitan wafers, made with a hazelnut cream filled wafers and praline. (medium dark orange wrapper)


From time to time, various special and limited edition flavours are released, sometimes with seasonal themes. For example, Marc de Champagne contained a truffle-like center with a champagne flavour and 'Yogurt ai Frutti di Bosco' contained a punchy sour berry center to complement the sweet milk chocolate.

Organic Varieties

  1. Mandelsplitter – Milk chocolate with chopped almonds.
  2. Macadamia – Milk chocolate with chopped macadamia nuts.
  3. Trauben-Cashew – Milk chocolate with chopped cashew nuts and raisins.
  4. Vollmilch 35% – Milk chocolate with 35% cacao.
  5. Feinherb 60% – Dark chocolate with 60% cacao.

Motto 1

  • German packaging: "Quadratisch. Praktisch. Gut." ("Square. Practical. Good.")
  • French packaging: "Carré. Pratique. Gourmand."
  • English packaging: "The handy chocolate square"
  • English packaging (UK): "Quality in a Square."
  • Italian packaging: "Quadrato. Pratico. Buono."
  • Danish Packaging: "Kvadratisk. Praktisk. God."
  • Russian packaging: "Квадратный. Практичный. Хороший." or "Квадратиш. Практиш. Гут."
  • North American packaging: "Quality. Chocolate. Squared."

Motto 2

"Qualität im Quadrat."

Literal translation used on English language packaging: "Quality in a square." English packaging now features "Quality. Chocolate. Squared." to provide a similar pun.

Motto 3

"Knick Knack auf Zack."

Literal translation in English language would be: "Knick Knack to be up to snuff." The first two terms are the clicking noises that you are supposed to hear when breaking the chocolate bar twice in the middle. This motto aired on German TV in the early 1990s.

Mascot

Ritter Sport is sometimes represented by "Quadrago", a banner-carrying baby dragon. This may be partly attributed to the German word "Ritter" meaning "Knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

".

In Popular Culture

Ritter Sport bars are referenced to comic effect in the BBC Radio Four convenience store comedy Fags, Mags and Bags
Fags, Mags and Bags
Fags, Mags and Bags is a Scottish radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Its first series was nominated for a Sony Radio Award.The writers, Sanjeev Kohli and Donald McLeary, received a Writers Guild Award in November 2008 for Radio Comedy of the Year....

.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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