Cowan’s Cocoa Insures a Wealth of Health was not written by a specific individual; rather, it was created by the Cowan Company Limited, which was founded by John Warren Cowan. Cowan (1841-1908) was a merchant, manufacturer, and entrepreneur. He was born in Nenagh, Ireland and lived there until 1852 when his family immigrated to Canada. They settled in Princeton, a small community located in Oxford County in southwestern Ontario. Cowan attended a commercial college located in nearby London, Ontario. After completing his studies, he worked as a clerk in a grocery store and then as a traveller for a wholesale tea dealer. In 1876, after several years' experience in the trade of food wholesaling, Cowan moved to Toronto where he established John W. Cowan and Company, a wholesale tea and coffee firm. In 1885, he expanded into the cocoa and chocolate trade by buying equipment from a failed cocoa and chocolate company. As a result the Cowan, Musgrave and Company was born. In 1890, with partner John A. Wood, the firm was renamed Cowan Cocoa and Chocolate Company of Toronto Limited. The company expanded with the help of aggressive advertising techniques and the purchase of a factory on Sterling Road, in Toronto, where they produced cocoa and chocolate products in beautifully labelled tins. Later, the name of the company was simplified to Cowan Company Limited. Ultimately, the company flourished as a result of Cowan’s marketing efforts, and by the time of his death in 1908, Cowan's products were known and advertised across Canada. Upon his death, the company was taken over by his son Herbert Norton, and then in 1926 it was purchased and maintained by Rowntree and Company Limited.