Food & Drink
The chocolate world of Zurich
Ever since Francois-Louis Cailler opened the first chocolate factory near Vevey in 1819, Switzerland has become a paradise for chocolate lovers. On average every Swiss person eats 10.6kg of chocolate a year, while Switzerland exports 130,000 tons of its dark gold annually.
Sweet-toothed people the world over can have sweet dreams of Swiss heavyweights such as Nestlé, Cailler, Suchard, Frey, and Lindt & Sprüngli, and every Swiss supermarket is able to muster up a chocolate department that will get a chocoholic’s heart racing.
Zurich’s chocolate adventure began 170 years ago when Rudolf Sprüngli opened his chocolate factory in 1845, with the Lindt factory following soon after. Lindt & Sprüngli later merged, and it is now the city’s largest chocolate producer, but by no means its only one. What all the city’s chocolate makers have in common is an enormous range and fabulous finesse.
The Swiss are also excellent confectioners, and in Zurich you’re never far from the next stop for delicious cakes and chocolate. Here are our favorites:
1842 Café & Confiserie im Hause Conditorei Schober
Schober is an excellent confectioner’s shop where, in elegant surroundings with chandeliers and silk tapestries, you can enjoy excellent home-made chocolates, macarons, cream cakes, tarts with lemon meringue, chocolate mousse, and all the other delicious goodies from the display case and dishes. And you can buy decadent treats such as champagne gelée, raspberry nougat, and truffle gelée with gold leaf to take home with you.
1842 Café & Confiserie im Hause Conditorei Schober
Napfgasse 4
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FrischSchoggi at Läderach. Photo: Läderach (Schweiz) AG
Läderach
If you still have room in your suitcase, you’re very likely to have excess baggage after a visit to Läderach. The shop on Zurich’s fashionable main street, Bahnhofstrasse, sells unbeatably delicious filled delights, while every month Läderach also launches a new, experimental flavor as part of its Frisch Schoggi concept. Wonderful.
Läderach
Bahnhofstrasse 106
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Lindt & Sprüngli Chocolate Factory
At the Lindt and Sprüngli factory, you can enjoy chocolate tasting sessions au naturel or with wine, coffee or tea, and learn all about chocolate. You can also join a chocolatier event and learn how to make chocolate yourself. And then, of course, there’s the Lindt & Sprüngli factory store with every kind of chocolate you can imagine; slabs, bars, small selections of experimental taste combinations, gift boxes, Easter bunnies, Christmas decorations, teddy bears and much more. You can also buy seconds at bargain prices -there’s nothing wrong with the chocolate, but it might have suffered packing damage.
Lindt & Sprüngli Chocolate Factory
Seestrasse 204, Kilchberg
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Foto: Confiserie Sprüngli
Confiserie Sprüngli
The illustrious Sprüngli was founded in 1836, and has been at Paradeplatz on Bahnhofstrasse since 1859. Sprüngli makes luxury pastries, confectionery, filled chocolates, and ice cream, but it is particularly famous for its small macarons, called Luxemburgerli, which are available in all kinds of flavors and with a little care can also be taken home. An institution, and a must for any visitor to Zurich.
Confiserie Sprüngli
Bahnhofstrasse 21
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Teuscher
Yet another delicious Zurich chocolatier that can be found on Bahnhofstrasse. Teuscher was founded in 1932 and has a huge selection of fantastic filled chocolates, including its famous champagne truffles, which are made from dark chocolate, buttercream, and Dom Pérignon. Teuscher also make cookies, marzipan, and other goodies.
Teuscher
Bahnhofstrasse 46
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Lise Hannibal
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Chocolate factories you can visit in Switzerland:
Chocolat Frey AG
Frey chocolate is familiar from the Swiss supermarket chain Migros, and at the chocolate factory in Aargau you can learn about the history of chocolate, meet the people who work there, and visit an aroma laboratory.
Chocolat Frey, 5033 Buch, Aagau
chocolatfrey.ch
Cailler
Switzerland’s oldest chocolate factory opened in 1819 and at Maison Cailler you can learn about the story behind the famous Cailler brand, which is now owned by Nestlé. See how their delicious products are made and create your very own chocolates.
Maison Cailler, Rue Jules Bellet 7, 1636 Broc, Fribourg.
cailler.ch
Maestrani
At the Maestrani factory in Sankt Gallen, appropriately named SchoggiLand, you can follow the chocolate production process from a gallery and of course buy some goodies to take home with you.
Maestrani Schweizer Schokoladen AG, 9230 Falwil, Sankt. Gallen
maestrani.ch
Läderach
Läderach has a visitor center in Bilten, Glarus, where you can learn how cocoa beans are turned into chocolate and then watch some being made on site. You can also have a tour of the factory in Ennenda if you book well in advance.
Visitors center: Schoggi-Erlebnis, Grabenstrasse 8, 8865 Bilten.
Fabrik: Confiseur Läderach AG, Bleiche 14, 8755 Ennenda
Favarger
Favarger in Geneva has been producing chocolate since 1826, and if you take nine or more friends with you, you can go on a tour of the charming factory, although you need to book at least two weeks in advance. Everyone gets a chocolate souvenir to take home. You can also try making your own chocolates in the chocolate workshop, available for groups of no more than six people. This must be booked 48 hours in advance.
Chemin de la Chocolaterie 2, Versoix
faverger.com
Camille Bloch
You can go on a free morning tour of the Camille Bloch factory in Bern, as long as you book three weeks in advance.
Chocolats Camille Bloch SA, 2608 Courtelary
camillebloch.ch
Alprose
In Ticino, the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, you can visit the child-friendly Alprose chocolate factory, which has both a chocolate museum and a factory tour, where you can enjoy free samples along the way and even make your own chocolate slabs.
Chocolat Alprose SA, 6987 Caslano.
alprose.ch
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