FOR generations of children and chocoholics and for thousands of residents, the name of York has been synonymous with sweets. Now, the history of one of the city’s most famous empires has been retold in print, in a new book, The Cocoa Works: York.

Alex Hutchinson, heritage assistant at Nestlé UK, and James Maxton, communications manager, have collated hundreds of old Rowntree and Nestlé images of staff, sites, advertisements and packaging designs, and turned them into a striking 184-page book.

Through words and images, it charts the growth of the firm from its humble beginnings in York city centre, to becoming one of the biggest food companies in the world.

It tells of the first Rowntree’s factory on the banks of the River Ouse in the 1800s; the firm’s expansion in the 1920s; and the creation in the 1930s of brands that would become legendary, such as Smarties, KitKat and Black Magic.

It recounts the tumultuous war years, when the site in Haxby Road became a munitions factory; the post-war re-emergence and recovery; the merger with Mackintosh’s in the 1960s; the big brands and big budgets of the 1970; and the takeover by Nestlé in 1988.

And it tells also of the firm’s expansion globally since, and the enduring dominance of KitKat, which now sells 564 fingers every second.

The stories behind individual brands are also told, and everyday workers are captured at work and play, labouring in the factory, eating lunch in the canteen, or playing sport.

• The Cocoa Works: York is available to buy online at amazon.co.uk/The-Cocoa-Works-York-Rowntrees/dp/0957512503