Best chocolates in Switzerland
By Oriana Pauli ∘ Updated 10th May, 2025 ∘
You’ve probably heard that Swiss chocolate is amazing (and that’s true!), but what are the best chocolates in Switzerland? This article will explain how to choose the best and avoid the rest.
Not all chocolate is equal: Chocolate categories
The first thing to realise when you come to Switzerland is that there are different tiers of chocolate. I base these tiers on price, production process and how widely available the chocolate is. These are the three tiers or categories of chocolate I came up with:
1. Supermarket chocolate: I’ve called the first category supermarket chocolate because (you guessed it) it’s the chocolate you’ll find at the supermarket here.
Generally this means the chocolate is produced in a factory, at an industrial scale. The two major Swiss supermarket chains, Migros and Coop, both stock famous Swiss chocolate names like Lindt & Sprüngli and Cailler, as well as their own brands.
2. Artisanal chocolate: My second chocolate category are the more upmarket, artisanal chocolatiers, which also have franchises and a national presence. These are the ones tourists usually flock to because they look impressive (think gigantic slabs of chocolate piled on top of each other behind glass cabinets). To buy chocolate in this category, you usually have to go to a specialty store.
Well known names in this tier include Läderach, Bachmann and Sprüngli (don’t get confused: Sprüngli is a separate, distinct company from Lindt & Sprüngli. Rudolf Sprüngli divided the original chocolate company between his two sons, hence the name-sharing).
3. Local chocolate: The third chocolate category goes to small business, local chocolatiers, which do not have a national presence. With such intimidating competition, you might be surprised at how many small chocolatiers there are in Switzerland! These guys prove that in Switzerland, making quality chocolate really is a passion.
Our aim is to test a variety of chocolate in each category in order to give you our opinion on the best Swiss chocolates. Please note that this is a fairly divisive topic in Switzerland- everyone has their own favourite chocolates.
Supermarket Chocolate Test: Milk chocolate
My Swiss husband, true to the cliché, absolutely loves chocolate. He could eat chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day…so needless to say he was an enthusiastic participant in this experiment.
To begin with, we decided to blind test plain old milk chocolate from the supermarket- no fancy flavours involved!
I visited Migros and Coop and found the following plain milk chocolate blocks:
- Villars – 3.60 chf
- Cailler – 2.60 chf
- Lindt – 2.60 chf
- Frey (Migros brand)- 2.20 chf
- Halba (Coop brand)– 1.95 chf
- MBudget – 0.60 chf
- Coop Prix- 0.60 chf
My husband and I both did a random order blind taste test and ranked our favourite chocolates from best to worst, considering taste, texture, creaminess, sweetness and mouthfeel. Here’s the results:
Interestingly we both chose the same top 2 chocolates.
The winner for the best chocolates in Switzerland (for plain milk chocolate) was clearly Frey, followed closely by Cailler.
We both mentioned similar reasons for choosing Frey first- it had a distinct hazelnut flavour. My husband even said it tasted like Nutella. And after looking at the ingredients we saw that ground hazelnuts was the fifth ingredient listed in Frey milk chocolate. None of the other chocolate bars had hazelnuts as an ingredient.
So if you like hazelnut flavour in chocolate, definitely go with Frey!
Cailler came a close second because it tasted quite creamy. This is because Cailler is the only chocolate brand which still uses full milk (in the form of condensed milk) to make their chocolate. The rest all use milk powder.
I actually knew this about Cailler after visiting the Cailler chocolate factory a few years ago and back then I thought you couldn’t really tell the difference. Now I know better 😊
For the creamiest milk chocolate, definitely choose Cailler! (just be aware that it’s now owned by Nestle)
Otherwise, Lindt is a solid choice. My husband actually likes Lindt a lot, so we were both surprised that he put it so low, even below the budget chocolate brands. He was complaining about a ‘cardboard taste’ when he tried it. I didn’t notice any cardboard taste, but even without knowing it I recognised the flavour of Lindt when I tried it- it’s unique and deservedly famous.
I wouldn’t bother with any of the other brands, and especially not the budget brands or Halba. I didn’t enjoy them at all and actually spat a few out. My husband on the other hand ate and enjoyed all the chocolate brands and is finishing off all the blocks as I write.
But in my opinion- life is too short for budget chocolate.
Supermarket Chocolate: Branches
I didn’t think it was fair to mention only plain milk chocolate in the supermarket category for a couple reasons.
First- there are well-known Swiss chocolate brands, like Maestrani and Camille Bloch (both of which have delicious chocolate factories you can visit) which don’t even bother making plain milk chocolate.
And second, branches- which are delicate chocolate bars, not chunky like Mars Bars or Snickers- are almost like a basic foodstuff here. They range from about 20-50g and generally feature chopped nuts, praline, malt or biscuit filling. Most likely, if you ask a Swiss person what the best chocolates in Switzerland are, they’ll answer with one of these branches.
I went to the supermarket and filled a basket with all the branche-type chocolates I could find:
- Kägi 1.95 chf
- Frey Giandor 0.80 chf
- Ovomaltine Branche 1.70 chf
- Torino 2.20 chf
- Frey Branche 0.90 chf
- Eimalzine Branche 0.50 chf
- Cailler Branche 0.70 chf
- Lindt Milch-Nuss 1.95 chf
- Minor 0.79 chf
- Ragusa 2.20 chf
Confession: We did do a blind taste test but after some consideration it seemed too subjective to rank chocolate with completely different flavours against each other. Everyone has different favourites.
So here’s the flavours so you can try for yourself:
Wafer/Biscuit– Kägi. It’s like a Swiss Kit Kat, but way better than Kit Kat. One of my favourites.
Almond– Torino & Giandor. If Marzipan actually tasted good (and was chocolate) this would be it. These both taste luxurious.
Malt– Ovomaltine & Einmalzin. You can also get both of these as chocolate powder to add to milk as well. My husband’s and brother-in-law’s favourite.
Hazelnut– Cailler branche, Frey branche, Minor. These are the classics, you’ll find them at get-togethers and for school lunches. Minor is the best.
Whole Hazelnut– Lindt Milch Nuss, Ragusa. The lindt bar is plain milk chocolate with whole hazelnuts. Ragusa has praline, milk chocolate and whole hazelnuts. This is my ultimate favourite and the one I would buy people as a present. It’s so good.
Artisanal chocolate & Local chocolate Test
We decided to test these two categories together to see if there is any difference between the two. This time, we decided to test 70% dark chocolate because dark chocolate seems fancier…The kind of thing real chocolate connoisseurs go for. The difference between milk chocolate and dark chocolate is that, as the name suggests, milk chocolate includes milk whereas dark chocolate doesn’t.
In the ‘Artisanal’ category we bought 70% dark chocolate from Läderach, Brändli and Sprüngli:
- Läderach 6.50chf
- Brändli 9.50chf
- Sprüngli 9.00chf
You’ll notice at this price point for dark chocolate you can see the place of origin of the cocoa beans, as cacao beans will have different flavour profiles depending on where they’re grown. It’s a bit more exclusive.
In the ‘Local’ chocolate category we went to local chocolate producers, which produce premium small batch chocolate. As we live in Basel, we went to three chocolatiers found only here: Chocolarte, Xocolatl and Idilio Origins.
- Chocolarte 9.50chf
- Xocolatl 11.00chf
- Idilio Origins 6.30chf
Interestingly, the Local chocolate blocks didn’t cost too much more than the Artisanal franchise chocolate. The difference is, they not only tell you where the cacao beans come from, but also what kind of ‘tasting notes’ you might be able to enjoy. They claimed to have hints of anything from vanilla, to specific fruits like lychee or orange, to coffee and even spices…all evidence of the particular place the cacao beans were grown. I have to admit I was skeptical about the tasting notes, (mostly because I’d never tried this kind of chocolate before).
My husband and I did a blind taste test of all the chocolates and we were both really suprised at how different all the different dark chocolates actually tasted. They were all notably distinct from one another and we could definitely detect fruity notes and coffee flavours. I tried but failed to guess which one had lychee notes- I guess my palate is not that refined yet!
Here are our results, mine at the top, my husband’s at the bottom:
My favourite by far was the Chocolarte chocolate, I think because it was the one that tasted like straight up cacao and I didn’t love the ‘fruity’ chocolate (although that’s just a personal preference). Upon inspection of the ingredient lists, Chocolarte was also the only chocolate block with just cacao and sugar, all the others also had cacao butter as well.
My husband’s favourite was Sprüngli, which he said had a hint of coffee, he didn’t really know why…he just liked the taste.
We differ in most of the other results, except for the last. We both agreed Brändli was the worst.
If we look at which category of chocolate had better results overall, than the Local category wins. As such, I would recommend seeking out local chocolatiers if you visit Switzerland and support small businesses. The price isn’t that different from the artisanal premium chocolate. Plus you’re more likely to meet the chocolatiers themselves, who are generally very passionate and enthusiastic about their products and will likely be able to tell you exactly where they get there cocoa beans from, and how they work to ensure cacao producers are paid fairly.
Here are some links for chocolate brands in Artisanal and Local categories:
Artisanal chocolate:
Local chocolate:
If you want to continue your chocolate adventure in Switzerland, why not consider going to a chocolate factory?
9 Irresistible Chocolate Factories in Switzerland
Oriana
Oriana was born in Zürich and is currently living in Basel, in northern Switzerland.
This travel blog is is her newest project with her twin sister. Their mission is to give everyone the confidence to travel Switzerland with ease.