Zurich company to help increase Unilever’s sustainability efforts
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Barry Callebaut and Unilever Monday 23 January signed a long-term partnership agreement that will double the cocoa and chocolate the Swiss-based company delivers to the Dutch-based consumer goods and foods producer. Barry Callebaut will invest CHF22 million under the terms of the agreement to ramp up to “provide 70 percent of Unilever’s global cocoa and chocolate products”.
Unilver is looking to ice cream products in particular to double sales while reducing environmental impact. The Zurich chocolate company has already helped build sales significantly with the Magnum ice cream line. Unilever has come under pressure, along with other multinationals, for its use of chocolate that is not certified Fair Trade. The company notes on its web site that “cocoa accounts for 4 percent of our total volume of agricultural raw materials. We buy 1 percent of global production, 95 percent of which is used in our ice cream, including in our biggest global ice cream brand Magnum and in Ben & Jerry’s.”
Monday’s press release from Barry Callebaut about the new partnership terms notes that “Barry Callebaut has also been working closely with Unilever to meet its sustainable cocoa sourcing commitments.”
CNN Friday 20 January ran a major investigative news background story on child labour in the cocoa industry, which has resulted in some calls for boycotting chocolate. As part of the network’s series, it contacted the chocolate industry for companies’ responses.
The Zurich company has been addressing the issue for some time and has considerable consumer information on the industry-wide problem.
Details of the deal were not revealed.
kosher chocolates, made in Geneva
Surprisingly, no one has done it before: two Geneva chocolate lovers teamed up to create the first certified kosher chocolates and truffles in the country. Made of high quality cocoa and without any animal ingredients, they’ll satisfy not only all kosher observers but chocoholics and vegans too. Online orders at chokacher.com for CHF39.50 (250gr) and CHF64.50 (400 gr), with deliveries in all Switzerland, France and more countries on request.
Stand for chocolate craftsman Christian Boillat from Saint Prex, canton Vaud, at the first Geneva Chocolate Salon
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Swiss chocolate-makers pulled in a crowd estimated at 6,000 over the weekend for their first-ever salon, to show the public their wares and convince the nation that top-quality chocolate is still worth part of their budgets.
The Swiss buy more chocolate per person on average than any other group, 12kg annually.
Given that the organizers hoped for 4,000 visitors, the salon appears to have been a great success.
The 24 participants were the country’s famed small, artisanal chocolate producers, who provide chocolate that tends to be lower in fat and higher in delicate cocoa flavours than the mass-produced chocolates that account for much of Swiss production.
Rising prices for sugar and cocoa have not stemmed demand, but producers are working to ensure that Swiss consumers appreciate the difference between fine chocolate and more ordinary, less expensive products.
Ed. note: GenevaLunch blogger Jared Bloch took a detour from bikes and cars to head for the show and he will be sharing his experiences as a chocolate taster on “Wheels Enthusiast” late Monday or Tuesday.
Swiss chocolate-makers will be out in force in Geneva, with some 30 chocolate-makers, including some from elsewhere in Europe.
Lise Luka Director, says “The International Exhibition of Chocolate and Chocolatiers is the first ever held in Switzerland and the only one. It is a great opportunity for Geneva to be elevated as a centre of chocolate excellence.”
Location: Geneva
Link out: http://genevalunch.com/blog/2011/09/27/swiss-ch…
Start date: 15 Oct 2011
End date: 16 Oct 2011
by Jenny Turin, second year apprentice
by hird year student Naomi Guillaume
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A high spot in the world of Swiss chocolate is the annual awards ceremony for the next generation of chocolatiers-confisseurs in canton Vaud, designed to promote the three=year apprenticeship programme.
The prize-giving ceremony Tuesday 3 May at the Lausanne-Crissier shopping centre awarded top prizes to three students from each year of the canton’s programme.
The award-winning confections will be on display for the pubic until 14 may, at the Léman centre in Crissier.
The theme of this year’s contest was haute couture, and part of the ceremony was a fashion show with four dresses made from chocolate, including one worn by Miss Suisse Romande, who wore white chocolate.
Click on images to view larger
First year
Damien Sauvageat, confiserie Zurcher, Montreux
Lydia Felder, confiserie Fornerod, Morges
Charlotte Guidi, confiserie Poyet, Vevey
Second year
Jenny Turin, confiserie Hedinger, Aigle
Victor Herbillon, confiserie Moret, Lausanne
Elsa Stegmüller, confiserie Rapp, Prangins
Third year
Aurélia Zahnd, confiserie Manuel, Crissier
Elodie Manesse, confiserie Boillat, St-Prex
Naomi Guillaume, confiserie Zurcher, Montreux
Swiss cut back on imported chocolate but eat a little more Swiss chocolate: 12 kg per person
Swiss chocolate makers are smiling despite the high franc
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Key companies in three Swiss industries whose business is linked to the country’s reputation, have noted, noted Tuesday 8 February that while the strong franc has not helped them, they are upbeat about the outlook for 2011, after good figures for 2010.
Swatch, the country’s largest watchmaker, the chocolate industry, and Givaudin, the Geneva-based fragrance company, saw good sales growth in 2010.
Swatch Tuesday 8 February confirmed its 2010 figures and published its forecast for 2011, saying it expects to achieve sales of CHF10 billion, up from CHF6.44b in 2010.
“The current outlook for 2011 appears positive, despite the unfavorable currency constellation at present, particularly the US Dollar and the Euro against the Swiss Franc”, the company notes in a press release.
Chocosuisse, the chocolate industry’s group of 18 major producers, said sales were up 2.4 percent in 2010 to CHF1.74b, after falling in 2009. Swiss chocolate accounts for 66.8 percent of the country’s chocolate, and for the first time in nine years the share of imported chocolate slipped slightly. The Swiss are eating more chocolate, however, adding to the manufacturers’ good news. The 300 grams extra a year consumed by the Swiss brings annual consumption up to 12 kg per person a year.
Givaudin’s chief executive told the Wall Street Journal in an interview that the company’s sales were up 7.1 percent in 2010 in Swiss francs, to CHF4.2 billion. The company sees little impact from the strong franc on its operating profits because it buys and sells in the same markets, he notes.
(Federer and chocolate balls video) Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Rising cocoa bean prices and glum consumers in 2008 and 2009 have plagued the chocolate industry in recent months, forcing prices up and profits down. Chocolate-makers Lindt & Spruengli near Zurich, are cheering a return to the black, however, with sales figures released Tuesday 18 January.
Sales were up 7.3 percent in local currencies, to CHF2.58 billion, an increase that the company says is well above industry-wide improvements. The company saw double-digit growth in its key North American market in 2010, with direct exports from Switzerland performing very strongly despite the Swiss franc’s 5 percent appreciation against the dollar in the past 12 months.
Lindt & Spruengli, which owns Lindt, Ghirardelli and Caffarel brands, invested heavily in manufacturing in 2010, notably in the US, where the company says it “is now in the position to execute every individual production step on-site, from processing the cocoa beans right through to the finished product. This enables currency risks to be significantly minimized and transportation costs optimized.”
The company doesn’t mention the impact on sales of its airport check-in videos featuring Roger Federer (Ed. note: if you enjoy this one, also check out the more tennis-oriented “Who is Roger Federer’s sweetest fan?”)
Finished video: The making of Federer and “Airport” (where he mentions that he lives near the factory, often smells the chocolate and likes to drop in to pick up a bit of chocolate)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Let is snow, let it snow, preferably on our turf! Frankfurt and Paris were snowed in, but the sad news for skiers in Switzerland 10 December is that the snow that fell last week in the Jura has turned to mud, and the Alpine ski resorts are still waiting for the big snowfalls to arrive. You have a few more days to continue your pre-season warmup exercises and to reflect on safety on the slopes.
Weather forecast
Sun today! The first village house to get warm rays, canton Vaud 9 December
Temperatures are expected to go no higher than 2C throughout the Lake Geneva region this weekend, with sunshine alternating with partly cloudy skies. Expect resorts in Valais to have the same weather, but if you are longing to get warm, head for Ticino, where temperatures will reach 15C.
Alpine and Jura resorts updates
Shirley Curran writes from the Jura resorts area that “sadly, after last Saturday’s memorable start to our ski season where we were skiing with feather-light powder up to our knees, not a cloud in the sky and no crowds, this week’s torrential downpours and high winds have blown or washed away most of the Jura snow. The lifts will not be operating this weekend. However, they will be running every day from 18 December. You can keep up to date with information and webcams at montsjura.com.”
Several resorts in the Alps are offering reduced fares and special family offers. Sierre-Anniviers, which groups together several medium-sized resorts above the lakeside town of Sierre, including family-friendly Zinal and Vercorin, has a new special deal for parents. It allows a couple to share one ski-pass, for parents who are alternating taking care of children. It’s valid only in low season, basically January and March, but offers a good practical solution for many couples with small children or babies.
Anzere has a very good deal for this weekend, 11-12 December: CHF10 for kids and CHF20 for adults for a day pass, or CHF15/20 for two days, well below the season day pass price of CHF47. Slopes open for the season 17 December. Children up to age six are free and families of four get a 10 percent discount.
Verbier has put together an information page on parking and public transport, with useful emergency numbers, part of the effort to encourage skiers to be a bit greener.
On the lakefront, Geneva remembers a glorious moment from its past, and eats chocolate
A three-hour walk through Fribourg exploring Serrières, where the Suchard chocolate factory used to be.
Location: Neuchatel
Link out: http://www.asgip.ch/?id=27&news=90&ag…
Date: 17 Jul 2010
Versoix Chocolate Festival 2010, Switzerland (photo, ©2010 Mr Kio)
Versoix, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The urge to turn the town into a chocolate bazaar overcomes Versoix every March and the sixth year of the Versoix Chocolate Festival took place as happily as usual Saturday 20 March.
This year’s festival had an unusual feature: chocolate-makers participating in the festival spent Saturday working in relays to build a five-metre high chocolate bunny, only to let the Geneva-Servette Hockey Club break it into pieces Sunday at 16:00 and hand it out to the public (donations for a nibble or two go to Haiti for post-earthquake aid).
Versoix has had chocolate-makers since 1858 but on this one day every year the town of 13,000 has more visitors than residents and all roads (and rails for the chocotrains) end in chocolate.
Versoix Chocolate Festival 2010, Switzerland (photo, ©2010 Mr Kio)
But the less said the better, for chocolate is meant to be looked at, smelled, touched, nibbled.
Eaten.
GenevaLunch photos by Mr Kio. (Photo album with 44 images from the Versoix Chocolate Festival, mmmmmm)
Swiss chocolate, to help celebrate Canadian gold at the Olympics
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Canadians may have loved their Olympic Games primarily for the sports, but the Winter Games 2010 also brought other great things to town. These included four tons of Swiss cheese and two tons of Swiss chocolate, consumed at the two Swiss Houses that were opened for the event.
Presence Switzerland says 60,000 guests visited the two locations between the opening ceremony 5 February and the closing ceremony 28 February. Some 1,700 fans registered on the Facebook account.
The two locations where a hub for the Swiss Olympic team, sponsors and partners and were also a meeting point for fans.
Swiss Emmental cheese
The Swiss House project was sponsored by Presence Swiss, which promotes Switzerland abroad. The project was subsidized by the federal government to the tune of CHF1.5 million.
The Swiss ate a little less chocolate in 2009.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – You know the economy is in trouble when the Swiss cut back on their chocolate, and they did, in 2009: consumption fell by 700 grams per person. That’s the equivalent of seven of those 100 gram tablets for which the Swiss are particularly famous outside the country, the kind that fit neatly into the pocket of a ski jacket or backpack for Alpine and lakeside trips. The one growth area, up 3 percent, was small chocolate bars.
Domestic sales fell by 6.9 percent, says Chocosuisse, to 68,375 tons. An extended warmer than usual summer and a fall in the number of tourists played roles, but the Swiss were “cautious” and bought less chocolate, and cheaper products.
Domestic consumption was nevertheless 11.7kg per person, powdered chocolate and cocoa excluded, based on overall consumption of 91,330 tons of chocolate. Imports rose to one-third of total chocolate consumed: most imported chocolate is low-price products.
Chocosuisse, which is the association of the country’s 18 largest chocolate manufacturers issued its figures for 2009 Wednesday morning 10 February.
Domestic and export sales were both down in 2009, the first time in six years that chocolate-makers did not sell more than the previous year.
Etas project in Zimbabwe: the Roger Federer Foundation is spending some CHF80,000 a year on the project to improve the infrastructure of 8 schools, as well as investing in teacher training and the quality of education for about 2,000 children in the Matopo region.
Basel and Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Roger Federer has signed a 10-year contract with Swiss bank Credit Suisse, for an undisclosed sum, the bank announced Monday 16 November. Federer, on his web site, notes that “As part of the partnership agreement, Credit Suisse will make a significant annual contribution to the Roger Federer Foundation, which is dedicated to helping disadvantaged children and to promoting education, sports and play, particularly in Africa.” The foundation was inspired by Federer’s South African mother and currently states on its web site that its capital is CHF4 million.
The bank’s CEO, Brady Dougan, did not stint in his enthusiastic praise of the Swiss tennis star:
Barry Callebaut supplies chocolate-makers: Salon du Chocolat, Paris, October 2009
Barry Callebaut's chocolate supply samples, Paris Salon du Chocolat, 2009
Zurich / Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The global economic crisis may have served up stress and more stress to many people, but the Swiss chocolate industry appears to be sailing happily through it: Barry Callebaut sales in 2008-2009 rose 4.1 percent in a world market that contracted by 2 percent last year. The Zurich-based company is the world’s largest supplier of top-quality cocoa and chocolate products. Profits also rose, 18.5 percent for net profits in local currencies, but the strong Swiss franc had a negative impact.The company reported 11 November on its fiscal year, which closed 31 August 2009.
Nestle at the same time has offered chocolate lovers good news from its research laboratory near Vevey: 40 grams of dark chocolate a day, one small square, has been shown in tests to reduce stress levels. The research is published in the Journal of Proteome Research.
Roger's other family
Kilchberg, canton Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Roger Federer, Switzerland’s favourite tennis player, has been tapped by chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli to market the brand. The company made the announcement 29 October.
Lindt has two production facilities in the USA and six around Europe. It distributes around the world. The company announced poor first half 2009 sales for its premium products as the recession took hold, and consumers spend chocolate money on cheaper brands. Reuters
Minister Doris Leuthard samples chocolates in Broc
Nestle master chocolate maker at work in Broc
Vevey/Broc, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Nestlé Monday 7 September opened its CHF25 million Chocolate Centre of Excellence in Broc, in the hills above the company’s home office in Vevey. A slew of dignitaries, including Switzerland’s minister for economic affairs, Doris Leuthard, and top company officials were present to underscore the unit’s importance.
The new centre is a research and production operation for Nestlé’s premium and luxury chocolate segment, but it “will influence the company’s entire chocolate range,” the company noted in its press release for the event.
Nestlé says that of its CHF9.8 billion in chocolate sales in 2008, some 70 percent came from local sales rather than the global brands for which it is well-known, which had sales of CHF1 billion.
Lindt Easter bunny boosts sales, but Christmas chocolates are bigger
Kilchberg, Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli saw its operating profits (EBIT) slip from CHF33.6 million to CHF24.1m in the first six months of 2009, compared to the same period a year earlier. The company expects nevertheless to end the year with a CHF260-280m profit.
Rising cocoa prices that could not be entirely passed on to consumers in a weak economy were blamed for much of the profit decline.
Title: Wine and chocolate: a family affair
Location: Romainmôtier, Vaud
Link out: Click here
Description: A group of nine Côtes-de-l’Orbes wine producers are presenting their wines at the Caveau de Romainmôtier, along with chocolates from Pascale Philippe’s chocolate shop Passionnément Chocolat in Yverdon-les-Bains.
What’s really special about this is that you can bring the whole family. This wine tasting doesn’t have to be an all-adult affair. The Formule jeune lets under-18ers taste four different chocolates and two different artisanal juices from the region for CHF6.
Start Date: 18 Jul 2009
End Date: 30 Sep 2009
Updated 10 April 13:10 London, England and Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Mars has become the latest chocolate maker to go green with its products, making a commitment ” to spend tens of millions of dollars annually certifying that the cocoa used in the $10bn of chocolate products it sells every year is sustainably sourced by 2020,” reports the Financial Times. Mars claims to be the world’s largest end-user of chocolate. The company joins Cadbury (whose European head office is in Rolle, Vaud, Switzerland), the largest chewing gum and sweets maker in the world, which has a significant chocolate business. Cadbury announced in March that it would increase direct Fair Trade buying from farmers, spending £45 million in the next 10 years to “to secure the sustainable socio-economic future of cocoa farming in Ghana, India, Indonesia and the Caribbean where the cocoa farming industry is facing increasing challenges.”
Swiss chocolate
Updated 13:00 Versoix, Switzerland (Genevalunch) - Versoix’s fifth annual chocolate festival holds some surprises this year, apart from the traditional artisan chocolate displays. Thirteen of the chocolate makers are presenting works with an astronomy theme for the international year of astronomy.
Read more…
Nestle profits up
Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Nestlé has announced net profits of CHF18 billion, a 69.4% increase over 2007. Consoliated sales for the year were CHF 110b, of which CHF102b were in the food and beverage arm of the business. The company says its very strong growth has allowed it to continue its three-year CHF25 billion share buyback programme.
Coffee in Geneva has reached world-class status. The Richemond Hotel’s Le Bar now has a coffee menu and staff trained by one of Italy’s best coffee-art specialists, barista Giorgio Milos.
The coffee menu
Go for the cappuccino, worth every sip at CHF8, but expect it to come with a beautiful design on the top and hazelnuts and Domori almond covered in chocolate, and plan to linger over it all a very long time.
In a hurry? Just get an espresso, CHF6, but you’ll have trouble parting company with it as fast as planned, with honey caramelized pecan nuts and a glass of mineral water on the side.
Better yet, here’s the perfect coffee hour for two girlfriends who’ve found a slot to meet and catch up on each other’s lives. The top end of the coffee menu (it really is a menu) at Le Bar offers these: the Neve Fondente and Il Bicerin.
The first is made with cocoa powder, skimmed milk, sugar and double expresso. The skimmed milk is not there for the lower calories but because it works better for the kind of frothy top that makes this drink so appealing. On the side: a mini tiramisu (Ed. note: I’m not a fan of tiramisu but this is exceptionally good!).
Il Bicerin is an espresso, hot chocolate and cream, with a small serving of crunchy cocoa leaf, mini cream chocolate cake and coffee mousse. CHF18 for the first and CHF20 for the other.
A Swiss love affair with coffee
The beauty of coffee is that it is adaptable, letting itself be loved by people who simply want a quick fix of adrenaline as well as those who expect no-fuss excellence in a cup at the office, and then a leisurely, foamy Sunday morning treat.
The Swiss have always liked coffee: it makes up well over 80% of retail sales of hot drinks. The country has a reputation in the coffee industry for appreciating good quality coffee.
This easy-going beverage has had great demands put on it lately in Switzerland, however. First, the long Swiss tradition of a cup brewed just-so and served with a newspaper at the local cafe has been forced to give ground to Starbucks and other foreign invaders. Starbucks opened its first shop in Switzerland in 2001 in Zurich, and by mid-2008 it had 37 shops, with more planned.
Tastes began to change. A good café-crème, or renversé (white coffee) was for years the most popular hot drink away from home, but by 2005 it had slipped to only 33%, according to Research and Markets. Espresso and cappuccino shares rose to around 20% each, and macchioto has made good headway.
Then the sacred mugs of not particularly good stuff spewed out by office coffeemakers began to disappear, often replaced by Nespresso machines.
The capsule coffee business has done so well that Vevey-based manufacturer Nestlé told Reuters in May 2008 it expects to reach its goal of CHF2 billion in sales before the end of 2008, a full two years ahead of schedule.
Ecology-minded drinkers could comfort themselves with the knowledge that the second capsule plant the company recently built in Switzerland recycles rainwater and that 40% of the coffee Nespresso buys is sustainable coffee.
Machines began to invade the home, replacing all those interesting national variations for dripping or percolating, but given their pricetags, from CHF200-2,700 for Nespresso, not everyone was buying them.
In early November 2008, Coop announced that it would sell coffee capsule machines made by the Italian firm Martello at prices everyone, but particularly young people, can afford.
The result? Good coffee abounds, Christmas gifts will undoubtedly include all the accoutrements for making and drinking it, and it hardly seems worthwhile leaving home or the office to buy a cup of the brew.
Coffee as an excuse to go out
Enter the Richemond, which had the good idea of returning coffee-drinking to the status of an event, an excuse to go out, a reason to meet someone.
Patrick Mossu, managing director who has worked at several of the world’s five-star hotels, says he was tired of people complaining that the coffee wasn’t good. It’s true, he insists: top hotels too often have a reputation for charging outrageous prices for their coffee, then serving a mediocre beverage.
The Richemond is one of Geneva’s smaller five-star hotels. It closed for 21 months for renovations and when it reopened in September 2007 it made a point of welcoming local guests to its bar and restaurant.
The Sapori restaurant invited Italian Chef of the Year Fulvio Pierangelini to help refresh the menu with the goal of making it the best place in town for Italian food.
The Italian touch worked and the Richemond decided to extend the influence to the bar. It called in Amici Caffè, the Swiss arm of the Italian coffee company Illy.
Giorgio Milos is a barista who teaches at Illy’s University of Coffee in Trieste. “My mother worked in a coffee company and my father for a milk company, so I grew up surrounded by milk and coffee.
“But I must say, I learned this from another barista,” he grins. His eyes never leave the cup in front of him.
His arm wiggles effortlessly as he puts the finishing touch on what looks like a plain milky coffee. Pause.
A beautiful leaf shape suddenly surfaces in the foam. Another great cappuccino.
Coffee-art
Coffee-art became a trend in Italy about 15 years ago, and has become widespread, but it’s more difficult to create a perfect-looking coffee than Milos makes it appear.
And even the pro admits humbly that on a world scale, he’s good, but he’s not the greatest.
“Italy has the best baristas! In Italy it’s a profession, where you work in a bar maybe 30 years. In other places you do it maybe two to three years to earn money for your studies.”
But, he admits, despite having been named Italy’s best barista in February, he came in only 29th in the World Barista Championship 2008 in Denmark.
“Italians never win,” he says sadly. How can this be?
“They were good, just very good,” he admits.
In Copenhagen, where the championship was held, and each barista had to show his skill in four areas, an Irishman, Stephen Morrissey, walked off with the trophy.
“I love him! He’s the best barista in the world!” says Milos with a show of purely Italian-style enthusiasm. And then, cheered by memories of barista excellence, he concentrates on the next cuppa.
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Barry Callebaut is the world’s largest top-end chocolate manufacturer, a supplier to most of the world’s best chocolate brands, and it has just served up its 2007/2008 financial report with a large smile. Sales volume rose 10% and sales revenue rose 17.1% to CHF4.82 million.
