At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Daniel Bloch, CEO of the chocolate manufacturer Camille Bloch, met with the Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze. The background to the talks were Camille Bloch's plans to build a hazelnut plantation on 651 hectares of land in Lagodekhi and create up to 40 new jobs. In this way, Camille Bloch wants to secure long-term access to high-quality raw materials.
Company profile
Who is behind the company Camille Bloch? Camille Bloch is a Swiss chocolate manufacturer based in the Bernese Jura. The company produces 3,700 tonnes of chocolate specialities per year, generating an annual turnover of the equivalent of USD 60 million. The export share is 20%. With around 180 employees, the 90-year-old family business is one of the most important employers in the region.
By far the best-known Camille Bloch product is the Ragusa chocolate bar, introduced in 1942. The product was created in the middle of the Second World War, when raw materials such as cocoa were difficult to obtain due to naval blockades. The founder of Camille Bloch made a virtue of necessity and came up with the idea of adding a filling of ground and whole hazelnuts to the chocolate. Chocolate and filling were poured in layers into flat moulds and cut into 50-gram chocolate bars. This is how the typical Ragusa shape was created. Ragusa is still made according to this recipe today.
After the Second World War, consumer habits changed and mobility increased. People increasingly turned to a snack when they were on the move. This made Ragusa the nationwide trendsetter for chocolate bars.
To this day, Camille Bloch mainly holds its own with high-quality niche products on the saturated Swiss chocolate market. In addition to the well-known chocolate bar Ragusa and the nationally renowned chocolate Torino, the range also includes exquisite liqueur chocolates. To meet the trend towards a healthier diet, new products with less sugar and more nuts are also increasingly being launched. In addition, existing products are offered in small portions.
Camille Bloch's estimated market share is around 5%. According to the Swiss Branded Goods Association, Ragusa ranked 5th among the most dynamic and trusted brands in Switzerland in 2019.
