Why Camille Bloch buys hundreds of hectares of land

The price fluctuations have recently been so extreme that the chocolate manufacturer cannot avoid passing on part of the additional costs to customers, said company boss and Chairman of the Board of Directors Bloch in an interview with the “SonntagsZeitung”.

Market share stable

Bloch also announced that he would be cutting back on the new “So Nuts” brand. “He went too far,” said the company boss. Chocolate should not change radically. “As a small manufacturer, it is practically impossible to establish a new brand so quickly that it achieves the required sales figures,” said Bloch. “You have to buy your space dearly and it quickly flies off the shelf.” Now the proven brands Ragusa and Torino should be in the foreground again.

It became apparent as early as April that Camille Bloche – like other manufacturers – would have to deal with a price increase. But the company, which produces in Courtelary BE, appeared to be on track in the spring. Sales returned to pre-corona pandemic levels. The market share in Switzerland remained stable at 4.8 percent, behind Migros, Coop, Frey and Halba. The number of 180 employees also remained stable.

650 hectares

Other Swiss chocolate manufacturers, such as Barry Callebaut and Lindt & Sprüngli, also increased prices due to increased cocoa prices. As a result, it achieved higher sales in the current financial year. On average, cocoa bean prices were 130 percent higher than in the same period last year, Barry Callebaut announced in July.

Camille Bloch wants to grow some of the hazelnuts herself. The company has purchased 650 hectares of land in Georgia. “I found the idea of ​​gaining more control over the quality of this raw material interesting.” Turkey has a market share of over 70 percent for hazelnuts, so prices fluctuate accordingly when there are crop failures,” said Daniel Bloch to the “Sonntagszeitung”. ».

The project is very demanding, both on an agricultural and a political level. “I am confident that we will be able to produce half of our hazelnuts ourselves within five years,” Bloch continued. But Kakao doesn’t want to build the company itself. The company buys the raw materials from Peru instead of from Ghana. We are in regular contact with the farmers, says Bloch.