A sign for 'Wonka' chocolate bars. Photo: By Marcus Quigmire via Wikimedia Commons.
Eye - 04 September 2026
Eye learns about the Quaker-adjacent history behind a beloved children's film
A sweet concept
Quakers and chocolate… we have a strong confectionery heritage, with the Cadbury, Fry, and Rowntree names prominent in the industry in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
However, Eye has stumbled across another unexpected, and admittedly Quaker-adjacent, connection.
Close your eyes, dear readers, and picture punting down a chocolate river, in a land of pure imagination, waving to Oompa Loompa’s and trying to avoid being turned into a giant blueberry. Yes, the Quaker name is behind the Gene Wilder film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s much-loved children’s classic – if not Friends themselves!
Let Eye be clear – Quaker Oats are not a Quaker company. Its founders chose the name because of what Friends symbolised – quality, integrity and value – but weren’t part of the Religious Society in any way. But, let’s also be honest – Eye can’t be the only one who has heard ‘Like the porridge?’ when mentioning they’re a Friend.
So, when the tale of how they financed Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory appeared on the horizon… Eye couldn’t resist finding out more!
CBC/Radio-Canada reports: ‘It all started with the director’s eleven-year-old daughter. She had read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and loved it. Then asked her father to make a movie out of it. The director wasn’t sure, so he passed the idea by producer David Wolper.
‘At that moment, Wolper was doing a project for Quaker Oats, and he knew Quaker wanted to get into the candy business. So Wolper told Quaker Oats it should fund the movie. The plot revolved around Wonka Candy Bars – and since the film would run in theatres across the country, Quaker could launch their candy bars at the same time. Plus, the company would earn part of the movie’s profits.’
Quaker Oats liked the concept, and put up the full $3 million production budget. But the company had one stipulation… The company wanted to start manufacturing Willy Wonka-branded candies and candy bars. So they wanted the title changed from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.’
However – specialising in porridge doesn’t necessarily equip you to make the leap into the sweet stuff: ‘As it turned out, Quaker couldn’t get the recipe right for its Willy Wonka candy. It kept melting, even in cool temperatures. The company was forced to eventually pull the candy from the shelves. Therefore, their promotional investment in the movie was all for nothing.’
Food and culture website thetakeout.com added more to the story, first contrasting the two food icons: ‘The Wonka Chocolate Factory produces an array of fantastical sweets, sold by a lovably eccentric fellow with a purple coat and a twinkle in his eye. (Whether he takes the form of Gene Wilder or Timothee Chalamet depends upon your taste; either is perfectly valid, so long as he’s not Johnny Depp.) Quaker Oats, on the other hand, produces oats for a sensible breakfast, sold by the famous food mascot, a man in a powdered wig (who is pointedly not William Penn).’
The Takeout also detailed the dim view Roald Dahl took of the film, as well as the unfortunate outcome for Quaker Oats: ‘Although he was brought on to write the screenplay, Roald Dahl hated just about everything about the film: the title change, the fact that it was a musical, that it focused more on Wonka than Charlie, and the casting of Gene Wilder as Wonka over Dahl’s preference, comedy legend Spike Milligan. Dahl left the project, and screenwriter David Seltzer made uncredited rewrites… it underperformed at the box office and seemed fated to sink into obscurity. Fortunately for the film, it received new life in the ‘80s upon the advent of home video, eventually becoming the beloved classic it is today. Unfortunately for Quaker Oats… they had already sold the rights to Warner Bros.’
