How Switzerland became known as the land of chocolate

Swiss chocolate is part of the country’s identity. But its global success owes as much to clever marketing as to taste and quality. In a new non-fiction book, Dominik Flammer examines how the myth of Swiss chocolate was created. Alpine dairy maids against a mountain backdrop, cows grazing on lush pastures, and St Bernard dogs with chocolate around their necks: from the 19th century onwards, Swiss chocolate manufacturers used idyllic Alpine imagery to promote their products. First at home, then worldwide. The Neuchâtel-based chocolate maker Philippe Suchard was a pioneer of this approach. According to Flammer, he likely brought these marketing ideas back from trips to the United States. “Suchard distributed his posters internationally. His advertisements travelled through European cities on thousands of trams,” Flammer explains. In doing so, he created a powerful selling point: chocolate made with milk from pure Alpine environments. The target audience: women, children and soldiers ...