Lindt & Sprüngli completes €100 million extension of Swiss manufacturing facilities
Interior view of the cocoa mass center in Olten. Pic: Lindt & Sprungli
A significant three-year expansion of Lindt & Sprüngli’s cocoa centre in Olten, Switzerland is now operational following major €100 million investment by the business, writes Neill Barston.
As previously reported, the company’s latest project comes as it attained a markedly improved sales position for the third consecutive year, rising from CHF 4.97 billion to CHF 5.20bn.
This is despite wider supply chain challenges that have continued to impact the sector as a whole, and resulted in significant increases to ingredients costs, including cocoa in core markets of Ghana and Ivory Coast.
For its part, Lindt has committed to sustainable sourcing, and noted that its improved financial performance had been down to efficiency savings and overall improvements to its production facilities.
The Lindt Cocoa Center in Olten was officially opened on Friday, May 3, with a ribbon cutting ceremony by Matthias Leypold, Marco Peter, Guido Steiner, Doris Bielser, Martin Salzmann und Dario Cavegn (from left to right).
As the company noted, its expanded Olten plant reaffirms a commitment to Switzerland as a business location. The facility has been producing cocoa mass for the Lindt brand since 1991, initially exclusively for the production site in Kilchberg near Zurich. Since then, the plant in Olten has steadily grown in significance for the entire Lindt & Sprüngli Group, becoming the largest and most important cocoa mass plant within the global production network.
Today, Olten supplies Swiss cocoa mass to several of Lindt & Sprüngli’s European production sites. These further process and refine the cocoa mass in accordance with rigorous Swiss manufacturing standards.
According to the company, its expanded site, which saw construction begin in 2021, includes new production lines, a new loading bay for cocoa mass, a state-of-the-art laboratory, and the redesign of the plant’s administrative offices. This project has created 12 new jobs at the Olten site. The extensive expansions since 2017 have doubled production capacity overall.
Marco Peter, CEO of Lindt & Sprüngli Switzerland, highlighted the key role the plant is to play in the future growth of the entire Group. He said: “As an ultramodern and efficient cocoa mass plant, the Lindt Cocoa Center in Olten is crucial for further growth. The investment is also a commitment to strengthening Switzerland as a business location over the long term,” Peter said.
As the company explained, from its site in Olten, cocoa beans are delivered by rail and stored in special silos until they undergo further processing. First, the beans are cleaned while still in their shells and then broken open. Next, the cocoa nibs inside are roasted using a proprietary process that perfectly coordinates temperature and roasting time.
The nibs are then crushed in mills, where pressure and friction create the viscous cocoa mass. With its characteristic smell and taste, this cocoa mass is the starting product for further processing into chocolate at one of Lindt & Sprüngli’s production sites.
