At the beginning of the 20th century, Bucharest was a city undergoing profound changes. Wide boulevards inspired by the Parisian model, elegant cafés, and luxury shops were reshaping the old image of a Balkan fair.

Bucharest in the 1900s – a city in transformation and the temptation of fine sweets

As the middle class prospered and the aristocracy adopted Western habits, the consumption of delicacies became a symbol of modernity.

In this context, fine sweets had a special role. Confectioneries and salons were gathering places for the elites of the capital, where politics, literature, and art were discussed, while chocolate—still seen as an exotic product—had become the very symbol of refinement.

 Imported from Vienna or Paris, chocolate was inaccessible to most Bucharesters, but for those who could afford it, it represented the taste of Western civilization.

The Zamfirescu family – from candles and soaps to the dream of chocolate

The story of Romanian chocolate would not have been possible without the entrepreneurial spirit of a family who, long before dreaming of pralines and chocolate bars, had built a small industry of candles and soaps.

 Around 1840, the first Constantin Zamfirescu, originally from Muscel, settled in Bucharest and bought a piece of land in Dudești. There he opened a fat-melting workshop and began producing candles, indispensable at a time when public lighting was still experimental.

Soon, he invested in two cauldrons for laundry soap, and success followed immediately. His candles reached boyar households and even the Royal Court. 

Later, with remarkable commercial intuition, he began importing perfume essences from France, from Grasse, and producing toilet soaps for the city’s elite. In a Bucharest where refinement was becoming increasingly important, his business prospered, bringing him wealth and fame.

After his death in 1865, his nephews, Constantin and Olimp Zamfirescu, inherited the entrepreneurial spirit of the family. Neither of them knew that, a few decades later, their name would be forever linked with the first great chocolate factory in Romania.

From Bresson’s Workshop to the Zamfirescu Factory

In 1891, the French industrialist F. Bresson founded the first chocolate factory in Romania, on today’s Kogălniceanu Boulevard. It was a risky initiative in an Orthodox country where culinary traditions were far from Western refinements. Still, the idea took root.

A few years later, in 1898, the Zamfirescu brothers managed to buy the factory, using their savings and inheritance from their grandfather. 

At first, the workshop operated modestly on Honțig Street, while the main store was on Elisabeta Boulevard. The brothers personally delivered chocolate by carriage throughout Bucharest and even to nearby towns such as Ploiești and Giurgiu.

After Olimp withdrew, Constantin Zamfirescu remained alone at the helm of the business and made a decisive choice: to invest massively in order to transform the small factory into a European-level competitor. 

He bought land on Calea 13 Septembrie, brought in modern machinery from Germany, and studied production methods in Switzerland and Austria. The result? Fine chocolate, quickly appreciated by Bucharest’s consumers.

The rise of Romanian chocolate – royal recognition and the Capșa connection

Success was soon evident. In 1906, Frédéric Damé wrote in his book Bucharest in 1906 that the Zamfirescu factory recorded annual sales of almost 800,000 Swiss francs—a colossal amount for that time.

The quality of the products attracted the attention of Romania’s Royal House, and Zamfirescu chocolate became its official supplier. This recognition was more than honorary: it was the ultimate guarantee of quality. At that time, being a supplier of the Royal House meant entering the select circle of the country’s most prestigious businesses.

The true consecration came in 1922, when the famous Capșa establishment—meeting place for aristocrats, writers, and politicians—allowed the factory to use the “Capșa SAR” brand on its labels. Capșa was synonymous with luxury, elegant meals, and desserts that made history. Associating with it raised Zamfirescu chocolate to the rank of a true symbol of Bucharest refinement.

By the 1930s, the factory had become one of the most important in Southeast Europe. It had its own stores in Bucharest, Iași, Chișinău, and Sinaia, and its products enjoyed a reputation comparable to the great Viennese or Parisian chocolateries.

Anecdotes from interwar life – Iuliu Maniu and Queen Marie

At the height of its glory, the factory also became the source of memorable anecdotes. One of the best-known stories involves Iuliu Maniu, leader of the National Peasant Party.

While in Sinaia for a meeting with Queen Marie, Maniu stopped first at the Zamfirescu confectionery. Enthralled by the showcases filled with pralines, candies, and ribbon-wrapped boxes, he lingered longer than he should have. He bought sweets for the queen but ended up late to the meeting.

When asked the reason, Maniu dryly replied that he had been detained by “state affairs.” The story provoked laughter and entered the political folklore of the era, also showing the prestige enjoyed by the Zamfirescu brand.

Decline under communism – the tragedy of a dynasty

This story of success, however, was brutally cut short after 1945 with the establishment of the communist regime. In 1948, the factory was nationalized, and Constantin Zamfirescu lost everything he had built in a lifetime.

The blow was devastating. The man who had raised an industry from nothing and had managed to make Romanian chocolate a product of excellence could not bear the loss. In despair, Constantin Zamfirescu committed suicide by throwing himself out the window.

His family tried to flee the country across the Black Sea but was caught and deported to the Bărăgan. The sweet tradition disappeared under the weight of the regime. The factory was merged with two others and reorganized under the name “Confectionery Products Enterprise,” a standardized industrial giant where uniformity replaced diversity and quality.

The forgotten legacy of Zamfirescu Chocolate

Today, very few remember the glory of “Zamfirescu Chocolate.” Yet its story remains an important episode in Romania’s urban and gastronomic history. It tells of the ambition of one family, of the transformation of the capital, and of the way modernity penetrated eating habits.

In interwar Europe, chocolate was a symbol of progress, and through the Zamfirescu factory, Romania kept pace. Alongside great names like Capșa, the brand helped shape the image of a cosmopolitan Bucharest, where refinement was no longer the privilege of the aristocracy alone but was becoming part of urban culture.

Although the communist regime destroyed this tradition, the Zamfirescu story remains an example of vision and perseverance. It is the memory of an era when sweets were not just dessert, but a symbol of modernity, refinement, and the desire to bring Bucharest closer to the great European capitals.