On this sunny afternoon, chocolate lovers from all over the world swarm into the entrance hall of the Lindt Home of Chocolate, just a stone's throw from the shores of Lake Zurich. Opened in 2020 and inaugurated by Roger Federer himself, the chocolate competence centre attracts up to 2,000 visitors a day. The centrepiece is the museum with an interactive exhibition run by the non-profit Lindt Chocolate Competence Foundation. But the centre also offers a research facility with show production, chocolate courses in the Lindt Chocolateria, a Lindt Café and the world's largest Lindt chocolate shop. A good 100 million Swiss francs went into the construction of this architectural masterpiece, which is located on the site of the Lindt & Sprüngli production facility at Schokoladenplatz (Chocolate Place) 1 in Kilchberg. Behind the unique design is the Basel architect duo Christ & Gantenbein.
On a discovery tour in the chocolate museum
The journey through the "Lindt Home of Chocolate" already begins in the entrance hall. Here stands the nine-metre-high chocolate fountain, which amazes chocolate fans and awakens the desire for chocolate here at the latest.
The tour of the museum then begins on the first floor. An interactive exhibition awaits us there on around 1,500 square metres, ranging from the origin of cocoa and the history of chocolate to the production site and the admittedly most beautiful part, the chocolate tasting. After the cultivation, we learn that the history of chocolate goes back over 5000 years. Already with the Olmecs, Mayas and Aztecs, precious drinks were made from the seeds of the cacao tree and used as a medicinal panacea. With the Spanish colonial era, cocoa came to Europe in the 16th century. It was enjoyed as a drink with sugar and spices. With the invention of the chocolate bar in the 19th century, chocolate achieved world fame. However, it was still far from the creamy, melt-in-the-mouth chocolate treat.
How Switzerland became the home of chocolate
A handful of Swiss pioneers with well-known names such as Cailler, Suchard, Peter, Sprüngli Lindt and Tobler are responsible for this indulgence, as visitors learn from interactive panels in the next room. They all helped Swiss chocolate achieve its current success. Alexander Cailler made chocolate production industrially viable by using the steam engine, Daniel Peter discovered milk chocolate by a twist of fate, Rodolphe Lindt invented the conching process that makes Swiss chocolate so melt-in-the-mouth and creamy, and Philippe Suchard and later Theodor Tobler knew how to market the Swiss cultural asset accordingly.
Any chocolate begins with the cocoa tree...
The tour continues into the production facility. Here, infographics, display boards and tasting machines playfully explain how the cocoa bean becomes a finished product. Several processes are necessary to turn the bitter cocoa bean into the chocolate that is so popular today, starting with the extraction of the cocoa nibs from the cocoa bean and the rolling of the roasted nibs into a cocoa mass. Then comes the refinement of the cocoa mass and the addition of sugar, milk powder and cocoa butter. Depending on the ratio of the recipe, white, light or dark chocolate is produced from this, which can be tasted immediately at the three chocolate fountains.
Just behind the chocolate fountains, visitors can watch how the famous Connaisseurs pralinés are made. For example, each individual almond brittle praliné is crowned by hand with an almond at the end. Loyal SWISS business travellers will still be familiar with these pralines from SWISS long-haul flights. Another highlight in this room is the chocolate crushing machine. Placing your hand under one of the eight machines reveals a finished piece of broken chocolate with flavours such as salted caramel, orange and fleur de sel. A real treat.
From Switzerland out into the world
Although Lindt comes first in the name of the Home of Chocolate, the foundation focuses on continuing the work of the Swiss pioneers and making chocolate known worldwide as part of the Swiss identity. With success, as we learn in the next room, the "Chocolate Cosmos". Whether on a plane, in international confectioneries, cafés and restaurants, Swiss chocolate with products such as Lindor truffles or Toblerone is a big hit at home and abroad.
Yet people still prefer to eat them in their own country. Together with Germany, Switzerland has by far the highest chocolate consumption in the world. Every year, Swiss people eat 11.3 kilogrammes (2021) of chocolate. That is more than twice as much chocolate as the average US citizen consumes.
A closely guarded secret
In the last room of the tour, a large selection of the popular Lindor truffle awaits us. Every year, almost seven billion of the colourfully wrapped truffles are produced in over 30 flavours. Since summer 2020, the round delicacies have also been flying on board SWISS. Every year, our cabin crew serves over three million Lindor truffle to guests in SWISS Business and the new Premium Economy Class. In the Lindt Home of Chocolate, the Lindt Master Chocolatiers himself hands them out to visitors. As masters of their craft, the Master Chocolatiers develop and refine the top-secret chocolate recipes and accompany the development process from the selection of raw materials to the final product.
Chocolaty prospects
At the end of the Chocolate Tour, chocolate fans can finally take a look at the testing and production facility. Visitors are shown the path from the mould to the packaged article, and of course they are served a piece of chocolate, a "Lindt Square", as a crowning finale. The plant is available to research institutes, universities and companies to conduct research into the chocolate of tomorrow. In the future, will it be possible to make chocolate at home with the help of 3D printers and will tomorrow's chocolate be even better than today's?
After this sweet excursion, you might think you're in the mood for something savoury. And yet, in the end, the chocolate shop tempts you to take home a chocolate bar of crème brûlée, a Mango Lindor truffle or a chilli chocolate. Incidentally, the chocolate museum is particularly popular with visitors from Brazil, the USA and Germany. They all ensure that the irresistibly creamy Swiss chocolate continues to be carried out into the world.