Although early ration kits usually consisted of products like tinned beef and hard biscuits, on special occasions the men would receive a piece of chocolate. By the Second World War, chocolate was valued as concentrated food and it became a regular feature in Emergency Ration Kits.

Some types of war time chocolate contained vitamins, other types were developed with thirst-quenching properties for use in life boats and still others had to stand up to tropical temperatures. Throughout the war, soldiers would offer their chocolate to the children of occupied countries in a gesture of friendship and trust.