The 19th century temperance movement was a reaction to the widespread and growing abuse of alcohol. In 1874 Fry's launched British Workman's Cocoa, designed for the working classes and for the temperance halls popping up around the country.

Lockhart Cocoa Rooms, for example, launched in Liverpool in 1875 serving tea, coffee and cocoa. Each featured a teetotal pledge book that guests could sign. The first one in the Sunderland region opened in 1877 and by the following year there were nine, serving 35,000 drinks a week of which some 8,000 were cocoa. Lockhart Cocoa Rooms were in business until at least 1923.

Most cocoa makers took full advantage of temperance, for example Frederick Allen & Sons made Homoeopathic Cocoa, Pearl Cocoa (recommended for breakfast), Chocolate Powder, and Essential Extract of Cocoa at its Confectionery Works in London . These were advertised as aids to the avoidance of alcohol, showing the benefits of temperance and prosperity alongside intemperance and poverty.