THE HISTORY OF BLANCPAIN

ART DE VIVRE
NEW TECHNOLOGY
“All true chocolate lovers know what the
consistency of a real chocolate mousse should
be, and our idea was to offer a perfect
mousse in a candy bar, in domed quarters
enrobed with a fine layer of chocolate to
keep the mousse inside.” The gamble was
taken with the goal of producing a world
first, in the sense that it would not be just
another filled chocolate bar. The chocolate
makers put their expertise and skills to work
and were able to produce a “prototype” relatively
quickly (although it did take several
months). It passed the tests and met everyone’s
requirements, beginning with those of
the ruthless “Tasting Committee,” the marketing
specialists and a group of consumers
invited to give their valued opinion.
So far, so good: the gamble was paying
off. Now a way had to be found to move
from small to large-scale production. This
was a tougher challenge. None of the
mechanical facilities then in use were able to
achieve the expected result, and there was
no question of marketing a creation that
was less than perfect. Whether in terms of
taste or appearance, at Lindt & Sprüngli the
sacrosanct rule demanding that the handcrafted
product be faithfully reproduced by
the machine is never violated. What was to
be done? Give up? “Absolutely not!” replies
Urs Liechti. “While it is true that, in our profession
as researchers and creators, we have
to be able to accept failure by abandoning a
project after months and months of hard
work, in this case, it had become a matter
of honour.” With general management’s
blessing, a multidisciplinary team made up
of engineers, technical specialists, precision
mechanics and master chocolate makers –
of course – set to work faithfully and diligently,
expertly drawing on the collective
know-how. After great sacrifices, the combi-
nation of all this knowledge finally led to the
perfected new technology needed to produce
the “Mousse au Chocolat” variety in
the “Small Desserts” line. They had hit the
jackpot! Needless to say, the details of the
invention are jealously-guarded secrets, as if
better to satisfy the chocolate lovers who are
always on Urs Liechti’s mind.
Our host puts a fitting end to these
few moments spent in the company of
Switzerland’s great chocolate-making tradition:
“When all is said and done, our gift is
to see people choosing our creations and
enjoying them or having the pleasure of
offering them to others.”
For our virtual visitor, the time has come to
taste the gift from Urs, a master chocolate
maker, and let it melt in his mouth. Will he
continue in the lie or scepticism mentioned
at the beginning of this article? No. The visit
to Seestrasse 204 will have made a believer
of him. ■