Max Felchlin AG (Felchlin Switzerland) is a Swiss niche producer of the finest couverture chocolates, focusing on the highest Swiss quality and traditional manufacturing processes. Felchlin Switzerland's couverture, made from carefully selected cacao origins and partly* with rare mountain meadow milk, is used by pâtissiers and chocolatiers globally.

Founded in 1908 and based in Ibach-Schwyz, Felchlin Switzerland has been a partner of DKSH in Japan for more than 30 years. DKSH additionally collaborates with Felchlin Switzerland and their partner Elucid to provide access to health insurance and local health centers and hospitals to cacao farmers in Ghana.

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Challenge

Our customer was a local confectionery company keen to introduce a new retail store in Japan specializing in fine milk chocolates. Our customer needed an experienced food and beverage team to support them in sourcing and selecting the right ingredients for its chocolate products to be sold in the store.

It was also important for the store to have some new and unique chocolate recipes that matched their premium quality products and catered to the local consumer taste and preferences.

Approach

From the start of the project, we worked closely with our customer to select the right cacao beans by vetting flavors and aromas from different markets. We also experimented with different mixing ratios of raw materials to come up with the perfect combination of flavor and taste.

Once the final chocolate ingredient supplied by Max Felchlin was decided upon, the pâtissier at DKSH's Condirama Japan created a recipe for our customer's newest product. DKSH's Condirama is a modern innovation center serving as hub for confectionery technology research, training and development, and professional pâtisserie application.

Once all the products and recipes for the new retail store were finalized, we worked with our customer to ensure the operations team were ready to receive their first orders for the chocolates. We further supported our customer with timely market insights and sales operational support to ensure the store had an immediate impact on the market.

Result

Our customer was very satisfied with our comprehensive support throughout the project planning, development, launch, and post-launch stages of the collaboration. The successful launch of the new chocolate recipes was a testament to the passion and flexibility displayed by all parties in coming together to provide the new, exciting, and unique chocolate offerings.

"It was crucial for our new retail store to showcase our quality and unique chocolates. DKSH provided the perfect ingredients and expertise needed for us to create the new recipes to match local consumer preferences." - Client