ABSTRACT
France played an important role in the development of the food industry in the nineteenth century. Major technical innovations such as the process of extracting sugar from beets, heat sterilization and industrial refrigeration resulted in some large canning, biscuit and chocolate companies. 1 In the second half of the nineteenth century, the Menier chocolate factory to the east of Paris at Noisiel (Seine and Marne) became 'the biggest chocolate factory in the world'. 2 In 1900, about 2,000 factory workers produced more than 15,000 tons of chocolate each year. This factory was not only typical of the large capitalist company based on rationalization of production and the organization of labour, but it was also an exceptional example of industrial architecture and its name is inseparable from that of the working-class neighbourhood built by Menier to accommodate their staff.
