The brown gold of the Maya
A small tree that works miracles! The cocoa tree grew wild, but very early on the civilizations of Latin America developed plantations to harvest the beans from the pod (twenty to forty beans per pod). It grows in a hot and humid tropical climate around the equator, in the West Indies and in Africa (Ghana, Tanzania). It measures between 3 and 8 m in the shade of other trees.
The Mayan currency has evolved! They used cocoa beans in exchange for food, clothing and for any barter in general. They made a beverage from the crushed beans, boiled with pepper, different kinds of chillies and roucou (a natural dye). It was at the height of the Mayan civilization (around 600 AD) that cocoa took on its full value. This very bitter and slightly granular drink was initially reserved for Aztec priests, kings and nobles. The "food of the gods" was drunk during rituals and ceremonies. A sacred drink that they named xocoatl(xoco = spicy; atl = water). The Mayan legend of the Feathered Serpent tells that the year 1519 was to see the return of the rich king of the Aztecs, Quetzalcoatl. It was Hernán Cortes, explorer of the New World, who showed up with his troops covered with armor in the form of flaming scales, like glowing snakes! This drink is therefore initially linked to that of colonization. As early as 1524, the brown gold of the Maya became gold for the Spaniards and very quickly the chocolate drink flooded the great courts of Europe for its energizing, euphoric and aphrodisiac virtues.
The Swiss pioneers
Why did Switzerland become the country of chocolate? In the 17th century, the chocolate drink was sipped by all the aristocracy of Europe. The recipe evolved and became smoother with the addition of sugar, vanilla and orange blossom. It was in Brussels, in 1679, that the mayor of Zurich tasted for the first time the fashionable beverage. Like many others, he introduced it to his circle of friends and its reputation spread. In the 1800s, chocolate changed its form: factories appeared in Italy. Drinking chocolate thus became "chewy" and pioneers on the shores of Lake Geneva, such as François-Louis Cailler, opened a very modern factory in Corsier-sur-Vevey in 1819. He became the father of the chocolate bar. Chocolate in this form was made possible by modern mechanization and was exported more easily.
Swiss chocolate reaches new heights
Avant-garde, the Swiss changed the basic recipe limited to dark chocolate. In 1826, Philippe Suchard began making chocolate in the canton of Neuchâtel. Jacques Foulquier is the predecessor of Jean-Samuel Favarger (Geneva chocolatier). In 1830, Charles-Amédée Kohler added hazelnuts to the recipe and diversified the marketable range.
Daniel Peter (husband of Fanny Cailler) created milk chocolate in 1875. The Swiss pastures are home to beautiful dairy cows that provide a high-quality natural product. With his wife, he experimented with numerous recipes and discovered the secret of success: marrying cocoa with powdered milk. Who hasn't heard of the crunchy, creamy Cailler branch? It was a revolution and was soon imitated. The heritage lives on, and Cailler, in the canton of Fribourg, welcomes you to its museum for an interactive experience, the history of chocolate and a delicious tasting session. In 1929, Cailler joined forces with Nestlé, the world's leading food company. The number of chocolatiers multiplied in Switzerland, and chocolate was no longer the exclusive preserve of the elite. In the 19th century, the fame and expertise of this handful of master chocolatiers spread beyond Switzerland's borders, and some of them are still a reference worldwide. In 1879, Rodolphe Lindt developed a new recipe: fondant chocolate, obtained using a conching technique that kneads the chocolate by heating it for hours. The texture becomes velvety and smooth. Anecdotally, the recipe was the result of a mistake. Mr. Lindt left the brewing machine running for 72 hours instead of 2! The result was another revolution.
All the inventions and techniques used (the mixing machine, the conche, the grinding method, milk, hazelnut and filled chocolate) are the foundation of today's chocolatiers. Swiss forerunners have contributed to the development of know-how worldwide.
A flourishing industry
The world's most innovative and best-known chocolate makers are Swiss. As ambassadors of Swiss quality, Swiss chocolate brands are icons in the duty-free aisles of airports around the world. In Geneva, you'll find the full range of this gastronomic industrial heritage in the shopping malls. Manor and its large boutique invite you to make your own assortment of Lindor balls, take home a Swiss chocolate knife and all the latest innovations. On the shores of Lake Zurich, the Lindt Home of Chocolate is a one-of-a-kind chocolate house. As big as four soccer stadiums, it houses a museum on the history of chocolate and its origins, a tasting room with free-access chocolate fountains and a huge boutique.
Swiss brands are engraved in our minds. Some are inseparable from the Swiss Alps, like the Milka bar, known for its mountain landscape and purple cow. Created by Suchard Suisse in 1901, it became American in the 1970s, bought by Mondelēz International. As did the Tobleronne crenellated bar, created by Thedor Tobler in 1908 and bought by the same American group in 1990. The energetic Ovomaltine bar, "energy to move mountains", and its derivatives, based on barley malt, skimmed milk, cocoa and yeast, was created in Switzerland in 1904. In 2002, Associated British Food acquired the brand from Novartis Switzerland.
Global competition is rife, sometimes even within the same group! The other side of the coin is that some highly marketed products become poor in taste, are sometimes finished in other countries, and can stray far from Swiss values.
Swiss chocolate production
The chocolate market in Switzerland has been affected by the Covid-19 epidemic. In 2022, the quantity sold in the country and sales are almost 5% lower than in 2019. Exports account for 73% of volume, up 8% year-on-year, but the sector is under pressure from rising raw material costs. The price of sugar, for example, doubled in 2022. Chocolate is primarily sold in bar form (50%), followed by confectionery (20%) and semi-finished products such as powders (20%). In 2021, the sector employed 4,378 people (figures provided by the chocosuisse.ch federation). Industries are deploying new ideas to find new varieties and remain competitive and innovative. Competition is heightened by imports of cheap foreign-made products. Despite all this, Swiss made chocolate remains unrivalled in its reputation.
The all chocolate heart of Geneva
Obelix fell into the magic potion as a child, and chocolate runs through the veins of the Swiss! Production is common to the whole country. In every town, a handful of chocolatiers excel in their craft. These master chocolatiers innovate and revolutionize the chocolate industry. For them, craftsmanship is the value they pass on. Geneva is a nugget, or rather an ingot of gold, with a large number of master chocolatiers who delight palates from the initiated to the more curious. The epicurean culture and taste for excellence of the Genevan people are reflected in top-of-the-range chocolate products. The recipes perpetuate tradition while adding a touch of modernity. The scent of cocoa wafts through the streets of Geneva, awakening your senses. Let yourself be seduced by this chocolate filter through renowned houses. If you're a fan of truffles and pralines, Zeller is the house for you. Chocolaterie Micheli 's milk chocolates are as fine as the store is elegant. As for Auer , it embodies five generations of savoir-faire, and its chocolate almonds are to be savored without moderation! Du Rhône Chocolatier is one of the oldest chocolate houses, founded in 1875. Like many celebrities, we love its ganache with Coline chocolate made from 70% cocoa beans, or its hot chocolate. Joël Dicker, the best-selling Swiss author, made it his guilty pleasure to buy the house in 2019 to perpetuate the chocolate tradition of his childhood. Quality chocolate knows how to reinvent itself and become trendy with, for example, Titeuf's wick with three chocolates (comic strip hero by Carougeois Philippe Chappuis, known as Zep) sold in a box. Other tempting chocolate shops include Chocolaterie Ducret, Stettler & Castrischer, Philippe Pascoët, Martel and the new Charlie Ganache.
Finally, the intoxicating aroma of chocolate hypnotically draws you across the Arve to the Carouge chocolate factory. The Rohr house is iconic, and its famous Geneva "poubelles" (a chocolate shell enclosing a truffled mass) and "pavés glacés" have contributed to its reputation.
For a tasty experience and to discover the city's history, let id.geneve guide you on its "Choc'visite".
The last historical factory
One factory remains in Versoix, the only one in the canton, the Chocolaterie Favarger. In its "juice", it has kept the authenticity of the 1826 factory. It is engraved in the collective unconscious of the Genevans and is part of their history. For more than a simple brand, it is the beauty of a loving encounter between two Genevan emblems. The union of a watchmaker (Jean-Samuel Favarger) and the daughter of a chocolate maker (Suzanne Foulquier) led to the Favarger epic. The Aveline, created in 1922, is the flagship product of the range. The factory has all the makings of a large one, but remains the smallest in Switzerland: it takes one week to produce a filbert, from the bean to the box. The cocoa beans are the sesame of a good chocolate: they are both the raw material and the precious material that guarantees excellence. This is why the Favarger factory roasts its own selection of beans. After seven generations, the Favarger family decided to hand over their empire in 2003 to Croatian food entrepreneur Luka Rajić. Immerse yourself in Favarger's vats by following the guided tours organized by the factory. You will melt with pleasure when you discover the chocolate fountain. The Chocolaterie Favarger, quai des Bergues on the banks of the Rhone, invites you to compose your fruit skewer and delicately immerse it in the chocolate avalanche. The variation of filberts (caramel, praline, hazelnuts...) will finish to make you lose your head by the perfect balance of their composition.
When chocolate becomes a symbol!
Don't look for the bear (from Bern, the capital) in a marshmallow or the water jet in a chocolate puzzle, but rather the pot of Mother Kingdom! In December, this chocolate cauldron radiates its opulence (vegetables in marzipan) in all the windows of Geneva's greatest chocolate makers. A gourmet heritage that commemorates the city's most important historical event, "l'Escalade". The cauldron is broken to celebrate the defeat of the Savoyard enemies during their attempt to lay siege to the city on 12 December 1602. Legend has it that the Mother Kingdom sounded the alarm by throwing her cauldron full of vegetable soup at the enemies!
