Lindt and Sprüngli

The story begins in 1845. The confectioner, David Sprüngli-Schwarz and his son, Rudolph owned a small confectionery shop in the Marktgasse of Zurich’s OldTown. They decided to employ a fashionable new recipe from Italy for manufacturing chocolate in solid form, and using the method already adopted by François-Louis Cailler in Vevey and Philippe Suchard in Neuchâtel. The consequence of their success involved a move to bigger premises at the upper end of Lake Zurich.

In 1859, Sprüngli & Son opened a second and larger confectionery and refreshment room at Zurich’s Paradeplatz and in 1870, chocolate production was relocated to larger premises at the “Werdmühle” in Zurich. When Rudolph Sprüngli-Ammann retired in 1892, he had acquired a widespread reputation for the quality of his products and as an expert in his field. He divided the business between his two sons. The younger David Robert, received the two confectionery stores. The Paradeplatz store, the larger of the two, enjoyed magnificent success.