- Swiss chocolate
Switzerland 'schocolate s, together with its timepieces and machinery, have earned an international reputation for high quality.History
Chocolate came to Europe in the 16th century. By the 17th century it was produced in Switzerland. In the 18th century chocolate was only produced in a few areas, such as the
Ticino .From the 17th century onward the following chocolate factories were founded:
* 1819 -
Cailler inVevey (todayNestlé )
* 1826 -Suchard in Serrières (todayKraft Foods )
* 1826 -Favarger inGeneva
* 1830 - Kohler inLausanne (today Nestlé)
* 1836 - Sprüngli in Zurich, company split into Confiserie Sprüngli and Lindt & Sprüngli in 1892
* 1852 -Maestrani inLuzern (today inFlawil )
* 1862 - Klaus inLe Locle
* 1867 - Peter in Lausanne (today Nestlé)
* 1879 - Lindt inBerne (today Lindt & Sprüngli)
* 1887 - Frey inAarau (todayMigros )
* 1899 - Tobler in Berne (today Kraft Foods), among other things with the markToblerone
* 1901 -Chocolat de Villars inVillars sur Glâne
* 1929 -Camille Bloch inCourtelary
* 1932 - Bernrain inKreuzlingen
* 1933 -Chocolats Halba in Wallisellen [http://www.halba.ch]In the second half of the 19th century Swiss Chocolate started to spread abroad. Closely linked to this was the invention of
Milk Chocolate byDaniel Peter and the invention ofConchierens byRodolphe Lindt .ales Market
From the 19th century until the the
First World War and throughout the second world war the Swiss chocolate industry was very export orientated. After theSecond World War Switzerland began to outsource production due to commercial restrictions.Today most Swiss chocolate is consumed by the Swiss themselves (54% in 2000), and Switzerland has the highest per capita rate of chocolate consumption world wide (11.6 kg per capita per annum).
In 2004 148,270 tonnes of chocolate were produced in Switzerland. 53% of this was exported (20% to
Germany , 11% to France andGreat Britain and 13% toNorth America ). The gross income of the Swiss chocolate industry in 2004 was 1,365 millionCHF (814 million from the local market, 551 million from exports).Industry Structure
In 1901 Swiss chocolate producers created the " Union libre des fabricants suisses de chocolat ". In 1916, this was divided into the " Chambre syndicale des fabricants suisses de chocolat" and the "Convention chocolatière suisse". The former "Chambre syndicale" (today the
Chocosuisse ) protects the interests of Swiss chocolate producers. The "Convention chocolatière" focused on the quality of the chocolate and sought a uniform price stratergy. In 1994 the Convention was disbanded.References
Much of the content of this article comes from the [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schweizer_Schokolade equivalent German-language wikipedia article] (retrieved October 10, 2006). The following references are cited by that German-language article:
* Alain J. Bourgard: "CH comme Chocolat", 2003, ISBN 2-8321-0036-8
External links
* [http://www.chocosuisse.ch Chocosuisse: Union of Swiss Chocolate Manufacturers]
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