Still daydream about fulfilling your childhood fantasies of spending a fantastical day in a chocolate factory? Well, head to this tiny Swiss municipality, and those dreams could become reality – sort of.
Maison Cailler, a chocolate factory in the small town of Broc in east Switzerland, is set to develop a chocolate-themed tourist park that will ‘promote the unique cultural and industrial heritage of the site and the production of Cailler chocolate.’
Plans for the attraction include a brand-new gallery, former mechanical workshops and reconstructions of the production lines, hotels, restaurants, cocoa-bean shaped greenhouses and – obviously – a Chocolate Emporium (where you can get a taste of the good stuff).
Sounds a little classier than Wonka’s setup, right? The project has a reported budget of 400 million Swiss francs (approximately €433 million), and according to euronews, the first phase of the park could be open as early as 2027 (though the official opening date is slated for 2030).
After the project originally launched in 2023, Cailler Chocolate Park has been submitted for public consultation, but several stages of approval (including ten different building permit applications) are needed before work can properly start, according to the Independent.
The proposal also includes demolishing the site’s current museum to make way for a new building that will host cooking workshops from master chocolatiers. Swish, eh?
What makes Swiss chocolate so good?
Broc is located in the Gruyère region of Switzerland – which is where the delicious Alpine cheese got its name – and Gruyère milk is used to make Cailler chocolate.
This stuff is high in fat, which is why Swiss chocolate tastes so goddamn creamy, and paired with oil-free cocoa butter and the ‘conching’ technique – a process of mixing and heating chocolate gradually over hours or even days to eliminate the bitterness – it’s no surprise the nation’s chocolate-making skills produce such indulgent treats.
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