Charles Sanna "developed a way to produce millions of individual packets of powdered coffee creamer for American troops."

"Military contracts stipulated, though, that his family’s company, Sanna Dairy Engineers, would be penalized if the orders were underfilled. So, to be safe, the company produced extra packets. But that meant that it was routinely stuck with excess supply, since the Army had also insisted that none of the overstock be used to fill future orders. The surplus powder was savory, potentially valuable and perishable. With necessity being the mother’s milk of invention, Mr. Sanna had another idea. 'I believed that it would make an excellent ingredient for a hot cup of cocoa,' he recalled. He experimented over the stove in the family kitchen in Menomonie, Wis.... 'I consulted the family cookbook and determined the best proportions of creamer, sugar, cocoa and vanilla,' Mr. Sanna said... Which was how, in the late 1950s, the future Swiss Miss brand — and the whole instant hot cocoa mix market — were born."

From the NYT obituary for Charles Sanna, who died here in Madison, Wisconsin last month at the age of 101. The company was founded in Madison. The brand, Swiss Miss, was sold to Beatrice Foods half a century ago.