History[]
Droste package illustration from around 1900
Droste B.V. is a Dutch manufacturer owned by Hosta, a Germany-based company, but run independently. It is headquartered in Vaassen, a village in the Netherlands.
Droste's founder was was Gerardus Johannes Droste. He stared the company in 1863 as a confectionary business with a number of different candy products. In 1890, Droste opened it's first factory. At the time, the chocolate was produced in the same building where it was sold. When production ran out of room in the old facilities, the factory was relocated to the Spaarne river. There, raw materials could be delivered by boat which made the new location much more practical. Furthermore, the finished products could now also be shipped by boat.
The company gained in market share and reputation even after founder Gerardus passed it on to his sons in 1897. It exported candies to Belgium, Germany, and France, and, after 1905, even to America. The World Wars and economic crises proved touch challenges for the company, but it eventually recovered each time, to be sold to Hosta in 1997.
Products[]
Today, Droste sells chocolate pastilles in different flavors, gift boxes, and XXL chocolate bars.