Lindt & Sprüngli Schweiz AG has announced plans to invest more than CHF 30 million ($32.25 million) in expanding and increasing the capacity of its production facility in Olten, Switzerland, this year.

The Olten production site is the largest plant in the entire production network and is responsible for producing cocoa mass for other European Lindt plants. This expansion represents a key project for Switzerland and safeguards the supply of cocoa mass for the production sites in Europe for the long term.

In addition to setting up another line for roasting cocoa beans and a new loading bay, Lindt will install a state-of-the-art research facility for tests on beans, recipes and processes. Other areas will also be brought up to speed with the latest technology.

Cocoa beans, mainly sourced from West Africa and Latin America, for fine flavor cocoa varieties are first shipped to the Netherlands and transported to Olten via rail. Connection to railway infrastructure was decisive in choosing Olten as a location close to the headquarters in Kilchberg.

Today, cocoa beans are delivered by more than 400 train wagons and stored in the plant’s silos for further processing. The cocoa mass is then delivered to the production companies in Switzerland, Germany, Italy and France. In all factories, local processing and refinement of the chocolate must meet rigorous Swiss standards.