In 1949 Rowntree introduced Sunchoc, while shoppers at supermarket J Sainsbury could buy its own-brand Red Label Cocoa – not to be confused with the Cadbury product of similar name.

Rowntree marked the coronation in 1952 with a souvenir cocoa canister called Monarch Queen. Radio and television star Wilfred Pickles' wife Mabel was enlisted to endorse Sunchoc: "Whenever friends drop in for elevenses or for an evening of TV, I always like to give them a drink that's unexpected and really delicious," she says, "so I give them Sunchoc. It brings back memories of the Swiss kind." The very same thought was also attributed to singing star Anne Ziegler and actress Anona Winn.

Cadbury's Drinking Chocolate (no longer Red Label) debuted in 1954 and was advertised on the very first evening of commercial television in 1955: "What's the time? After television – and it's chocolate time! Time for a smooth, smiling, cup of Cadbury's Drinking Chocolate – the luxury evening drink!"

In the 1960s Cadbury's television ads featured the whispering; "Hot chocolate, drinking chocolate, Hot chocolate, drinking chocolate…" and the jingle "Cup hands, here comes Cadbury's. Cup hands, here comes Cadbury's now."

Fifty years on, Marimba World Chocolate is continuing the tradition of providing Britain with top-quality hot chocolate, from single origin beans in real chocolate flakes.