Lindt to invest $32m in Swiss cocoa mass factory expansion

By Oliver Nieburg

- Last updated on GMT

Lindt safeguards cocoa mass supply for European plants. Photo: Lindt
Lindt safeguards cocoa mass supply for European plants. Photo: Lindt
Lindt & Sprüngli plans to extend its cocoa mass plant in Olten under a CHF 30m ($32.3m) investment this year.

The company will up capacity and modernize equipment at the Swiss plant, known as the Lindt Cocoa Center, which it says is the world’s largest cocoa mass facility.

“…The expansion of the Lindt Cocoa Center represents a key project for Switzerland and safeguards the supply of cocoa mass for the production sites in Europe for the long term,”​ Lindt said in a release.

The Swiss firm said it typically ships West African and Latin American cocoa beans to the Netherlands and transports to Olten by rail.

“The ideal connection to railway infrastructure was therefore decisive for choosing Olten as a location close to the headquarters in Kilchberg,”​ said Lindt.

From the Olten factory, cocoa mass goes on to chocolate plants in Switzerland, Germany, Italy and France that produce Lindt chocolate.

Last month, Lindt reported​ a 4.8% rise in 2017 group sales to CHF 4.1bn ($4.25bn), outpacing the global chocolate confectionery market, which grew 3.3% over the same period, according to Euromonitor International.

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