Lindt Home of Chocolate sweet and fragrant museum in Zurich

Lindt Home of Chocolate in Zurich.

Lindt chocolate, produced in Switzerland, needs no introduction. It’s a brand known for its luxurious chocolate products in various forms and an array of flavours.

While there is a vast following of Lindt chocolate enthusiasts, there are also those who oppose it. Some argue that it’s the best chocolate in the world, while others deem it rather average. Which faction is right? I don’t know. Taste, much like preference, is a highly personal matter and not one to be debated.

Personally, I am very fond of Lindt chocolate. It’s an incredibly delicate and silky product. I love the sensation of the square melting in my mouth, followed by the explosion of flavour from the slightly more liquid chocolate inside.

Lindt Home of Chocolate known and popular museum in Switzerland

Lindt Home of Chocolate in Zurich was established relatively recently, unlike the chocolate itself, which has been conquering global markets since 1899. The building was opened in 2013 in the Kilchberg district near Zurich, and it is owned by the Lindt Chocolate Competence Foundation. The purpose of this organization is the long-term and continuous promotion of Switzerland and its chocolate adventure.

In the vast building, besides the museum and educational exhibitions, there is also space allocated for the company’s scientific base, which deals with the exploration of new flavours and methods of chocolate production. Additionally, there are conference rooms and educational areas for children and youth. However, the most important task of the institution is to impart knowledge about chocolate and everything related to it.

Visiting the Lindt Home of Chocolate Museum in Zurich

A good way to explore the Lindt Home of Chocolate Museum is by taking a guided tour. To complete this, you need to express your interest beforehand and join a larger group of guests. Unfortunately, you only have the option of a guide who speaks either German or English. Reservations can be made on the museum’s official website.

Such a tour lasts about an hour and a half. During this time, you’ll hear plenty of interesting stories and have the opportunity to taste chocolate, which I’ll talk about shortly. The costs of individual and guided tours can be found online.

Of course, you can also explore the museum on your own. In that case, you have the entire building to yourself, and all you need to do is follow the well-described route of exploration.

Lindt Home of Chocolate Museum in Zurich and what attractions are prepared

Visiting the Lindt Home of Chocolate Museum in Zurich is a great adventure, and not just for chocolate lovers. The well-prepared rooms and showcases contain knowledge that will help you understand the history of chocolate and why the world has fallen in love with it.

Lindt Home of Chocolate in Zurich and a giant chocolate fountain

The museum visit begins, of course, at the ticket counter. It’s located in a vast hall where the biggest, quite literally, attraction is the gigantic chocolate fountain. And I’m not talking about some sculpture or trickery. In the middle of the enormous room stands a fountain over 9 meters tall, pouring out real chocolate. However, I, personally, recommend purchasing your ticket online in advance.

Through this monumental structure flows over 1500 kilograms of fragrant and warm chocolate. As you can see, this place is already incredible from the outset, and that’s just the beginning.

Lindt Home of Chocolate in Zurich and the world of chocolate

Right after the aromatic chocolate-scented hall, you’ll enter the section of the museum called the “World of Chocolate.” This section tells the story of the places that supply raw cocoa beans to Europe, including Switzerland.

Here, you’ll learn about the long journey cocoa beans must undertake to reach European factories like the one in Zurich. Additionally, you’ll discover the methods of modern cocoa cultivation in Central America and how they have evolved over the centuries.

Lindt Home of Chocolate in Zurich and the history of chocolate

In this section, you’ll have the opportunity to learn about chocolate from the times before it reached European tables. In Central America, cocoa has been known for thousands of years. It was used not only for consumption but also in rituals and local medicine.

Europe encountered cocoa and the chocolate made from it when Spanish conquistadors arrived in America. Those were brutal and bloody times that even tons of sweet chocolate couldn’t sweeten. The Spanish invaders quickly realized that serving them the slightly bitter drink could win over the hearts of people in their homeland. Thus began the history that has led us to this museum today.

In the showcases, you’ll find memorabilia from the early expeditions and materials describing the transportation and methods of production of early chocolate products.

Lindt Home of Chocolate in Zurich and Swiss pioneers in chocolate production

In this place, you’ll learn how Switzerland, a small and unassuming country, became the true capital of chocolate in the 19th century. It was here that the greatest discoveries were made, changing the perspective on confectionery and chocolate production.

You’ll also discover the methods of production and the principles that guided the establishment of the factory in its early days.

Lindt Home of Chocolate in Zurich and Unlimited Chocolate Tasting Department

For many, this is the most important section in the entire museum. In the spacious room, machines are set up for dispensing and distributing Lindt chocolate products from the factory.

Here, you’ll find dispensers with flowing, warm chocolate. You can sample to your heart’s content, starting from white and super milky chocolate to dark and devilishly bitter. There are no limits—if you have the desire and appetite, you can sit by the flowing chocolate tap and indulge until you drop.

However, it’s worth leaving some room, as a bit further on, machines await you for distributing chocolate in blocks with dozens of flavours. There are also flavoured variants with various additions, sometimes as exotic as pepper or ginseng root.

For sweet tooths and chocolate enthusiasts, this is a true heaven on earth that’s difficult to leave willingly.

But that’s not all—towards the end of the tour, you’ll come to a section where you can taste the famous LINDOR pralines, chocolate balls with various flavours packed in shiny wrappers.

The long room is filled with baskets of chocolates, and you can indulge without restraint, as long as you haven’t overindulged in the section with flowing, warm chocolate beforehand. Additionally, museum staff are present in the room, ready to answer all your questions about the available products.

Lindt Home of Chocolate in Zurich and chocolate making course

In this section, you have the opportunity to test your skills as a confectioner specializing in chocolate products. Under the guidance of Lindt company specialists, you’ll be able to create your own variant of chocolate using various available ingredients and flavours.

Interestingly, the factory staff present there diligently take notes on the students’ progress and even taste the results of their work. All of this is because perhaps someone with a fresh perspective and untainted taste might accidentally discover an extraordinary combination that allows for an even tastier and more interesting product to be made.

If you contribute to creating a new flavour or improving an existing one, you’ll be rewarded with a financial prize depending on the popularity of the new product. However, I’m not sure if this isn’t just a facade or a marketing ploy, so I don’t take responsibility for the above promises.

Apart from attempting to revolutionize the Lindt chocolate brand, you can participate in a course on decorating and embellishing products. This involves using chocolate and various decorations to add writings and patterns to chocolate bars. It’s quite a fun activity, especially for younger participants.

Such a course lasts about 2 hours and costs an additional several dozen CHF.

Lindt Home of Chocolate in Zurich and Chocolate Souvenir Shop

The souvenir shop at the Lindt Chocolate Museum occupies a substantial half square kilometre and is filled to the brim with chocolate, quite literally. Here, you’ll find all the products that come out of Lindt factories, and even more.

Shopping here is much cheaper than in other stores. Plus, there’s the possibility of packaging chocolates in a very individual way to make them a beautiful gift for someone who is important enough for you to have thought of something like this.

The shop displays change as frequently as the tourists visiting the museum. When we visited the museum, the souvenir shop was decorated for Christmas. However, preparations were already underway to change the assortment for Valentine’s Day and then Easter.

It’s worth wandering around the shop and looking at the products, most of which you won’t find on the shelves of stores in our country.

And that’s almost the end of the Lindt Chocolate Museum tour in Zurich. I say “almost” because you can still wander around the grand building to look through the large glass walls at the chocolate production process in the adjacent factory.

In one of the corners, we found a cool device. After inserting the ticket we bought at the ticket counter at the beginning of the tour, the device comes to life and a draw for a small gift begins.

It works like this: a metal ball is released from a chute at the top and then rolls down the tracks, randomly falling into one of several holes. Depending on where the ball lands, a chocolate with the flavour drawn is released into our hands.

Lindt Home of Chocolate in Zurich and the origins of Lindt chocolate in Switzerland

Below, you’ll find the story that initiated the existence of the huge Lindt company today. I deliberately placed it at the end because not everyone enjoys this type of story, but if you’re one of the few, here’s the story of how Switzerland became a chocolate powerhouse.

The first chocolate factory in Horgen

The success of the new product was so significant and unexpected that the confectioners decided to expand their business and opened their first chocolate factory.

The factory was established in 1847 in Horgen, a small town situated on the beautiful Lake Zurich. Apparently, when the factory began production, the scent of chocolate spread throughout the area and lingered in the clean, cool air for a long time.

Following the great commercial success, the Sprungli family opened another confectionery, this time in luxurious surroundings on the sophisticated Paradeplatz street in Zurich. Confiserie Sprüngli still operates to this day and is renowned for its luxurious confectionery products.

Lindt chocolate how and when it was created

Around this time, in the distant city of Bern, over a hundred kilometres away, Rodolphe Lindt ran his confectionery. He was the son of a local pharmacist. Like the Sprungli family in Zurich, he also produced his own chocolate, albeit of similar quality. It was hard and imperfect chocolate with a bitter taste.

Rodolphe Lindt was known for his love of sweets, especially chocolate. He couldn’t accept that the chocolate he produced wasn’t as good as he wished it to be. Therefore, he tirelessly tried to improve his product. He experimented using all available means. He melted chocolate, froze it, mixed it with additives, tried to separate lumps, and sought to give it the smoothness he dreamed of.

Unfortunately, regardless of what he did, the final product remained imperfect.

Chocolate conching is the greatest discovery and revolution in chocolate production

The situation unexpectedly changed, as it often does, on a certain Friday night. Exhausted from a full day’s work, Rodolphe, as usual, returned home late in the evening. Fatigue and discouragement led him to forget to turn off the machines in the factory laboratory, including the large vat for mixing chocolate.

The well-known contraption worked throughout the weekend until Monday. Imagine the confectioner’s surprise when he peered into the tank on Monday morning and saw a perfectly blended, pure, and velvety mass.

The chocolate was smooth, delicate, and most importantly, tasted incredibly delicious, like never before. At that moment, the world of chocolate changed irreversibly, and the era of delicate, creamy-smooth chocolate began.

Fortunately for us, on that very night, the vat contained perfectly matched ingredients that make up Lindt chocolate. These include cocoa butter, cocoa mass, powdered milk, and certain flavour components that remain a secret of the company to this day.

Conching, or the prolonged mixing of chocolate with additives, is still used today.

What connects the Sprungli family’s chocolate business with Lindt chocolate?

After Rudolf Sprungli’s sons took over the business, they divided the thriving enterprise among themselves. Johan took over the chocolate factory, while David received two confectionery shops.

Upon discovering Rodolphe Lindt’s chocolate conching method, Johan Sprungli began to monitor his progress closely and eventually contacted him to exchange experiences. Both gentlemen were chocolate connoisseurs at heart, so they easily found common ground.

During this time, the confectioner from Zurich opened another factory with a modern production line capable of producing unprecedented quantities of chocolate. Meanwhile, Lindt struggled to keep up with production because his velvety and delicate chocolate sold exceptionally well.

Both men reached an agreement. Rodolphe Lindt agreed to sell his company along with the secret recipe for his famous chocolate. The only condition Lindt insisted on was that the company must retain its name, and he himself would have a say in the company’s development.

In 1899, a new company named Lindt & Sprungli was born, and the collaboration between both men flourished.

Chocolate and the Lind company in the 20th century

In the early 20th century, despite global upheavals such as World War I and II, the Lindt company thrived. Moreover, in the 1920s, branches of Lindt & Sprungli were established overseas. The first were in Germany, followed by the United States, and then the United Kingdom.

Around this time, the company changed its name to Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG, and it operates under this name to this day.

Currently, the company has branches in many countries on every continent, and further investments are planned. As enthusiasts of their products, all we can do is to keep our fingers crossed for continued success and further development, which will result in even more delicious chocolate products.

Lindt Home of Chocolate in Zurich and interesting facts, facts, and information about chocolate

• The name “chocolate” comes from the Aztec word “xocolatl,” which literally means “bitter water.”
• During World War II, while studying radar signals, a scientist noticed that chocolate melted at a specific intensity of waves. This discovery led to the invention of microwaves, which are now found in our homes.
• There is a dispute between the Swiss and the British about which country produced the first chocolate bar.
• Cocoa comes from Central and South America, but most of the cultivation is now in Africa.
• In America, chocolate was associated with magic and believed to have medicinal properties. The cocoa bean was called the “food of the gods.”
• The demand for chocolate is constantly increasing. Over the past 10 years, demand for chocolate has increased by 10 percent.
• The best accompaniment to chocolate is coffee, followed by red wine. That’s why in France, chocolate bars and boxes of chocolates are almost always purchased with a bottle of red wine.
• The most chocolate products are sold on Valentine’s Day and Easter.
• Studies indicate that only dark chocolate can have a positive effect on our health. The rest of the sweet and milk chocolates are not as good for us.
• In the past, before the industrial revolution, only a few could afford a chocolate bar.
• The introduction of chocolate in Europe is associated with the nightmare of thousands of slaves working on plantations in Africa.

Other interesting facts about chocolate

• Here’s the translation:
• The largest chocolate bar ever produced weighed nearly 5.5 tons and was made in Chicago.
• The most expensive chocolate bar, named Cadbury, was sold for $687.
• Americans consume the most chocolate, accounting for over half of the total chocolate products produced annually worldwide.
• Dark chocolate requires a temperature 20 degrees higher than milk chocolate for production.
• World Chocolate Day is celebrated on July 7th.
• White chocolate was invented in 1930. It does not contain cocoa powder, only cocoa butter.
• The youngest type of chocolate is ruby chocolate, made from a cocoa bean variety called Ruby. Thanks to it, it has a natural, slightly pink colour. This chocolate entered production only in 2018.
• Chocolate is divided into 6 basic groups:
  • Dark chocolate – containing at least 70% cocoa mass.
  • Bittersweet chocolate – with a cocoa mass content of 50%.
  • Milk chocolate – with a cocoa mass content of 25%.
  • White chocolate – made without cocoa powder, with a 33% cocoa mass content.
  • Ruby chocolate – made from a special cocoa bean variety.
  • Chocolate-like products – in these products, the cocoa content ranges from 5% to 7%.
• It is believed that chocolate reduces stress. However, this has never been proven. Scientists argue that the same applies to other foods that calm frayed nerves, such as cigarettes, yet no one claims they are healthy.
• Chocolate, so beloved by people, can be deadly dangerous for dogs.

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