Sprüngli grew rapidly, opening the Schleiftobel factory in Horgen in 1847. You could actually smell chocolate in the air when production began.

Shortly after opening in 1879, Lindt’s chocolate company, Lindt & Sons only produced hard, bitter chocolate. Undeterred, Lindt kept experimenting, until one Friday night a happy accident changed everything. He accidentally left his factory without turning off the conching machine. It churned all night and all through the weekend. On Monday morning, Lindt returned and much to his surpise, discovered that the chocolate was delicately smooth and tasted like it never had before. Chocolate was changed forever. That was the beginning of the incomparably creamy, world-renowned Lindt Chocolate.

The secret to this creamy chocolate was all in the mixing. By evenly combining cocoa butter, cocoa mass and milk powder for a prolonged period of time, Lindt’s conching technique created a ‘melting chocolate’ so fine and so flavourful it was impossible to resist. This was the start of a chocolate revolution. And today, conching is still used by chocolate manufacturers all over the world.

When Lindt happened upon the secret in 1879 that would effectively put Switzerland on the map as a top-tier chocolate manufacturer, Johann Rudolf Sprüngli took notice. His interest had been piqued; he recognised a fellow chocolate connoisseur.

But it wasn’t until 1899 that the two families met. Johann Rudolf Sprüngli had just completed construction on a larger factory in Kilchberg-Bendlikon, the location of today’s headquarters, to increase output. Meanwhile, in Berne, the high demand for Rodolphe Lindt’s creamy chocolate was beginning to strain Lindt’s small antiquated production facilities.

So when Sprüngli offered to buy the company for an impressive 1.5 million gold francs – including staff and the secret recipe – Lindt agreed under the condition that he still had a say in the business. A perfect partnership was born. From here on out, two entities began to exist side by side: Sprüngli and Lindt & Sprüngli – or, as they were officially known at the time, “Aktiengesellschaft Vereinigte Berner & Zürcher Chocoladenfabriken Lindt & Sprüngli”.

Despite the economic crisis bringing exports to a standstill in the 1930s, our network continued to grow. The launch of the “Bâtons Kirsch” in 1931 proved to be a huge success for Lindt & Sprüngli, and in 1932, a further subsidiary is founded in England. During this period, we also changed our company name from ‘Aktiengesellschaft Vereinigte Berner & Zürcher Chocoladenfabriken Lindt & Sprüngli” to “Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG”.

Lindt & Sprüngli turned 100 and celebrated the big anniversary with a 12-part advertising series. The anniversary coincided with the end of the war and chocolate consumption picked up again. 

In the wake of the war, our Lindt Maître Chocolatiers wanted to create something heavenly to lift our customers’ spirits. They set to work experimenting with the recipe and tinkering with the conching technique until, in 1949, they came across a chocolate so luxuriously smooth it could be compared to melted gold. We named it LINDOR. First appearing as a bar of creamy, smooth and flavourful chocolate, LINDOR was only associated with the signature foil-wrapped truffles 20 years later. Curious to know more about the LINDOR history?

Finally, in 1969, Lindt & Sprüngli released the first red foil wrapped LINDOR milk chocolate truffles as part of a Christmas promotion. They became an immediate success and customers were sad to see them go once the festive season was over...

In 1989, yet another classic was created. Lindt & Sprüngli introduced the extra thin Excellence dark chocolate bars with its intense and elegant flavors and fine texture.

Sustainability is an integral part of Lindt & Sprüngli’s corporate philosophy and is firmly anchored in its strategy, from the sourcing of the cocoa beans to the chocolate product. Since 2008, the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program is an expression of this commitment to sustainability.

The Lindt GOLD TEDDY is launched for some extra magic during the festive season.

To celebrate our 175th anniversary, Lindt & Sprüngli opened its doors to the Home of Chocolate, a museum and chocolate factory in one. Located at our headquarters in Kilchberg, Switzerland,  it houses interactive exhibits, a research and display production facility, the world’s largest chocolate shop, a café and chocolateria designed for baking courses. As the Home of Chocolate, it’s no surprise that it also has one of the world’s largest chocolate fountains!

Today Lindt & Sprüngli is a household name signalling quality, bliss and sweet delight the world over. A global leader in premium chocolate, we are established in more than 120 countries with manufacturing plants in the US and various locations in Europe. Despite our growth, Lindt & Sprüngli remains a homegrown company – in fact, the Swiss remain our biggest champions with each citizen consuming on average one LINDOR truffle a day.