July 28, 2027
| Date | Wednesday 28 July 2027 |
|---|---|
| When it falls | Every year on 28 July |
| Where | US |
About National Milk Chocolate Day 2027
National Milk Chocolate Day 2026 was on Tuesday 28 July 2026. The next National Milk Chocolate Day is on Wednesday 28 July 2027.
National Milk Chocolate Day is on Wednesday 28 July 2027.
The day falls on 28 July every year and celebrates milk chocolate, the smooth, sweet style made by combining cocoa with milk and sugar. It began as one of the unofficial American food days and is now shared widely online, by chocolate brands, shops and people who simply fancy an excuse to open a bar.
What is National Milk Chocolate Day?
National Milk Chocolate Day is an informal celebration of the chocolate most of us grew up with. It has no official status in any country, and no founder or start date for the day itself has been documented. What it does have is a good story behind it: milk chocolate is a surprisingly recent invention, and the bars that became household names in the UK and the US are only a little over a century old.
It is easy to confuse with National Chocolate Milk Day, which is a separate day for the drink. This one is about the solid stuff.
Why milk chocolate matters
For most of its history, chocolate was something you drank. Nestlé describes the breakthrough plainly: at a time when chocolate was only a drink, Daniel Peter “solved the challenge of adding milk to cocoa”, and the result was the world’s first milk chocolate bar. That change turned chocolate from a bitter, expensive luxury into an everyday treat, and it shaped the confectionery aisle we know today.
In the UK, milk chocolate is bound up with Cadbury Dairy Milk, which Cadbury says was the best-selling chocolate bar in the country by the early 1920s. In the US, Hershey’s Milk Chocolate played the same role, with the company describing its launch as “transforming a luxury item into an affordable and accessible treat.”
The history of milk chocolate
Switzerland, 1875
Daniel Peter, a chocolate maker born in Moudon, Switzerland, in 1836, who worked in Vevey, is credited with inventing milk chocolate in 1875 after years of trial and error. Earlier attempts to mix fresh milk with chocolate had struggled because the water in milk made the mixture spoil. Peter’s answer was Nestlé’s sweetened condensed milk, which kept the mixture stable. Nestlé later took over export sales for Peter’s company, Peter & Kohler, in 1904, which was the first time Nestlé sold chocolate.
The United States, 1900
Milton Hershey introduced Hershey’s Milk Chocolate in 1900, after selling his caramel business to concentrate on chocolate. The company still counts the launch as a turning point in its history.
Britain, 1905
Cadbury launched Dairy Milk in 1905. Its new recipe used “a whole glass and a half of full cream milk for every bar”, a richer recipe than earlier milk chocolate bars. The name itself came from a customer’s daughter, chosen over alternatives such as Highland Milk and Dairy Maid.
How to mark National Milk Chocolate Day
- Hold a blind tasting. Line up a few milk chocolate bars from different countries, for example a British, a Swiss and an American bar, and compare sweetness, creaminess and cocoa flavour without looking at the wrappers.
- Bake with it. Milk chocolate works well in cookies, blondies and a simple ganache. As it is sweeter and softer than dark chocolate, it is best melted gently.
- Visit a chocolate attraction. In the UK, Cadbury World in Bournville, Birmingham, tells the story of the Cadbury business and its most famous bar.
- Look at the label. Use the day to check where the cocoa in your favourite bar comes from and whether it carries a certification mark, such as Fairtrade.
- Share it at work. A bar or two in the staff kitchen on 28 July costs little and gets people talking. It also makes an easy, light-hearted social media post for food, retail and hospitality brands.
- Post about it. Use #NationalMilkChocolateDay to join the conversation online.
Frequently asked questions
When is National Milk Chocolate Day 2027?
National Milk Chocolate Day 2027 is on Wednesday 28 July 2027. It is on 28 July every year, so in 2028 it falls on Friday 28 July.
Who invented milk chocolate?
Swiss chocolate maker Daniel Peter is credited with inventing milk chocolate in Vevey in 1875, using Nestlé’s sweetened condensed milk.
Is National Milk Chocolate Day the same as National Chocolate Milk Day?
No. National Milk Chocolate Day on 28 July is about milk chocolate you eat. National Chocolate Milk Day is a separate, unrelated day for the chocolate-flavoured milk drink.
Is National Milk Chocolate Day celebrated in the UK?
It started as an American food day and is not an official observance anywhere, but it is marked informally around the world, including in the UK, where Cadbury Dairy Milk is the bar most people associate with milk chocolate.
When was Cadbury Dairy Milk launched?
Cadbury Dairy Milk was launched in 1905. According to Cadbury, it was the UK’s best-selling chocolate bar by the early 1920s.
More chocolate days: World Chocolate Day (7 July) and International Chocolate Day (13 September).
Sources
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