Lindt, Rodolphe

Lindt, Rodolphe (1855–1909), improved the smoothness and melting quality of Swiss chocolate by devising a revolutionary method called “conching,” whereby extra cocoa butter is kneaded into the chocolate mixture during the manufacturing process. The Lindt brand, over time, has attained almost iconic status: “Whenever I am driving from Switzerland to Austria … a few miles south of the city of Zurich [near the Lindt & Sprüngli factory in Kilchberg], I slow down, lower the car window … and inhale deeply and happily, because the air is always delightfully charged with the fragrance of chocolate.” So wrote Joseph Wechsberg in the 19 October 1957 issue of The New Yorker magazine.