Ritter Sport
Ritter Sport is a brand of chocolate from the Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG. Company which is headquartered in Waldenbuch, Germany.
Each 100 gram square-shaped bar is divided into 16 smaller squares, creating a four-by-four pattern. In 2013 the company introduced a new version that is divided into 9 smaller squares using a three-by-three pattern. Large bars weighing 250 grams and 16.5 gram mini bars are also available, although in fewer varieties.
In 1912, Alfred Ritter and newly wedded wife, Clara, founded a chocolate factory in Stuttgart-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 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 sport jacket pocket without breaking.[1]
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 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 "homage 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, outside Stuttgart. They have a shop and museum in Waldenbuch that is open to visitors.
