1918 - 1939 Droste becomes a world-famous brand name
After the First World War production and turnover slowly improved by the leadership of Gerardus Johannes Droste junior. By the end of 1920 the firm had turned into a public limited company (N.V.): Droste's Cacao- en Chocoladefabrieken N.V. Not only trading results showed an upward line, also the number of employees, again, increased progressively. More than 800 people were employed in the cocoa and chocolate factory at the Spaarne by the year 1930.
A group of no less than twenty-five travelling salesmen were working for Droste, by that time. This group operated throughout the Netherlands, promoting Droste products to specialised confectionery shops. The familiarity of Droste's brand name quickly increased and as a result offices were established all over the world, London, Paris, Prague, New York, Chicago and Boston. From the year 1920 until 1940 ships and trains were transporting Droste products to the furthest places on planet Earth. From Russia to South Africa people became familiar with the chocolate and cocoa products from Droste Haarlem.
In 1923 Droste adopted a new logo designed by Jan Wiegman: the 'pastille-man'. It manifested itself as the standard-bearer of the Droste chocolate in the years that followed.
The crash in the stock exchange in 1932 had also affected Droste. In this year the company had to reduce the working week from 48 to 421/2 hours. The man who managed the company successfully for so many years, Gerardus Johannes Droste junior, died in 1936. His widow, Mrs. H.J. Droste-Savrij, became chairwoman in 1937.
