Swiss chocolatier revives closely-guarded recipe secret

Available in the UK for the first time, Favarger’s Heritage range has been resurrected from closely-guarded recipe vaults.

The range includes dark, milk, milk hazelnut and milk with cocoa nibs. They each come in 100g blocks and 12.5g bars and also in miniatures, which are ideal for serving with coffee.

Dark chocolate shavings, which can be used to create hot drinks or as a finishing decoration, are also available. These come in a 230g tin format.

Family firm​

Largely unknown in the UK, seven generations of the Favarger family have run the company since its creation in 1826.

It claimed to be one of the few chocolate makers in Switzerland to roast the cocoa beans and oversee the whole chocolate manufacturing process from start to finish – from roasting, grinding, conching and tempering, to packaging.

The company said cocoa beans are carefully selected directly from suppliers, and it oversees their growing, storage and transport condition – from the plantation right through to manufacture.

It also controls the origin and quality of all other raw materials used in the chocolate, including the hazelnuts, which are from Piedmont in Italy.

Cocoa butter is used to create the chocolate, and the milk has been sourced from the same Swiss alpine co-operative for more than a century.

Retro packaging​

Packaging for the Heritage brand has a retro feel to match the chocolate. It features the three young Favarger children – Roudi, Marc and Laurent – dressed in the traditional Swiss ‘Bredzon’ costume in a mountain setting.

Favarger export sales manager Pierre Yves Benoist said: “Our experts have delved into our centuries-old archives to find vintage recipes that embrace our past and, yet, appeal to today's taste buds. The Heritage range is a fitting tribute to that history.

“The chocolate is made using traditional methods handed down from generation to generation. It is this commitment that lies behind the success of our ancestors’ exquisite recipes.”