Camille Bloch is a

Swiss chocolate Swiss chocolate (; ; ) is chocolate produced in Switzerland. Switzerland's chocolates have earned an international reputation for high quality with many famous international chocolate brands. Switzerland is particularly renowned for its milk cho ...

producer based in

Courtelary Courtelary is a municipality of the French-speaking Bernese Jura, in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. The town is the capital of the Jura bernois administrative district. History Courtelary is first mentioned in 968 as ''Curtis Alerici'' in ...

. It was founded in 1929 in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

by Camille Bloch (1891 - 1970), a Bernese chocolatier, then moved to Courtelary in the

Bernese Jura Bernese Jura (, , German: Berner Jura) is the name for the French-speaking area of the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Bern, and from 2010 one of ten Administrative divisions of Switzerland, administrative divisions of the Cantons of Switzerland, cant ...

where production has been since 1935. The family business employed 180 people and in 2016, Camille Bloch produced about 3,500 tons of chocolate, generating sales of around 60 million francs. The well-known product from Camille Bloch chocolate is the Ragusa since 1924, and the Torino, which are the two main chocolate bars produced by Camille Bloch. The former is essentially a rectangular gianduja bar, including whole

hazelnut The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus '' Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according to ...

s and coated on two sides. The latter is a round chocolate bar, with an

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...

and hazelnut praline filling. Both Ragusa and Torino are made in both individual and 100 g bar formats, and in classic (milk), dark and caramelised white versions. Camille Bloch also produces several liquor-filled chocolates.

History

The company was founded in 1926 by Camille Bloch in Bern under the name "Chocolats et Bonbons Fins Camille Bloch" and entered the commercial register in 1929 as a stock corporation. In 1935 the move to Courtelary and the name change to "Chocolats Camille Bloch SA" took place. After Camille Bloch's death in 1970, his son Rolf Bloch took over the head of the company. In 1997 Rolf Bloch's two sons took over the operational business. Daniel Bloch took over the office of managing director and has been president of the board since 2005, Stéphane Bloch became the sales and marketing manager, board of directors and foundation president. In 2004 the book “Camille Bloch - 75 years of sweet delights” appeared for the 75th anniversary. In 2017, a visitor centre was opened, which, according to the managing director Daniel Bloch, counted over 100,000 visitors in the first year. In addition, the 2018 company acquired land in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

to grow

hazelnuts The hazelnut is the nut (fruit), fruit of the hazel, hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus ''Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or fil ...

in-house. Chocolats Camille Bloch SA has been producing its chocolate specialities completely from the roasting of the cocoa beans, hazelnuts, almonds to finished bars or the table in its only production facility in Courtelary, Switzerland.

Products

The company's most successful product is the Ragusa chocolate bar, which was invented in 1942 as a result of the shortage of chocolate in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In the bar is a limited hazelnut filling of two chocolate layers. According to the managing director Daniel Bloch, the bar accounts for over 50 percent of sales. A variant of 60 percent cocoa content was launched in 2008 under the name “Ragusa Noir”. In 2014 “Ragusa Blond” appeared in which light coloured chocolate and light praline cream were used. In addition to Ragusa, there are other chocolate brands, such as the Torino brand and the Camille Bloch brand. Since 2020, the company has also been selling pan-coated hazelnuts and almonds under the “So Nuts” brand.

References

External links

*
Official websiteVisitor center website
* {{Authority control Companies established in 1929 Swiss chocolate companies Swiss brands Brand name chocolate Food and drink companies established in 1929 Museums in the Canton of Bern companies based in the canton of Bern European chocolate bars