Heidi Chocolat AG, Niemetz Schwedenbomben, formerly Walter Niemetz Süßwarenfabrik – Fabrikation von Zucker-, Schokolade-, Konditorei- und Dauerbackwaren GmbH & Co KG is an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n confectionery manufacturer. The company, also known as ''Walter Niemetz Süßwarenmanufaktur'' (Walter Niemetz Sweets Manufactory), goes back to a café-confectionery founded by Edmund Niemetz in Linz in 1890 - a time when

Viennese Viennese may refer to: * Vienna, the capital of Austria * Viennese people, List of people from Vienna * Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna * Viennese classicism * Viennese coffee house, an eating establishment and part of Viennese ...

coffeehouse A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...

s were emerging. In May 2013, the production was sold to the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

''Heidi Chocolat AG'', which is an indirect subsidiary of the Austrian '' Meinl-Gruppe'' via the

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n holding company ''KEX Confectionery''. Niemetz is best known in Austria for producing Schwedenbomben ( chocolate marshmallows, lit. Swedenbomb), Manja (

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 ...

cream bars with a cocoa-based fat glaze) and Swedy (

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large ...

cream bars with a cocoa-based fat glaze). They are only produced in

Wiener Neudorf Wiener Neudorf (; Central Bavarian: ''Weana Neiduaf'') is an Austrian town in the eastern part of the Mödling district, south of Vösendorf and Maria Enzersdorf, west of Biedermannsdorf, and north of Guntramsdorf. History First settled in 4 ...

and the products are sold in almost all European countries. The former ''Niemetz Konditorei-Café Linz'' pastry shop operated with a branch on the corner of Fadingerstrasse and Mozartstrasse until 2015. Until 2019 there was a branch in

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

, the ''Niemetz Konditorei-Café Salzburg'' at the Herbert-von-Karajan-Platz 11.

History

Edmund Niemetz's son, Walter Niemetz, founded the factory in Vienna-Landstrasse in 1930. In 1926, Walter Niemetz and his wife Johanna created the Schwedenbombe. At the beginning of January 1940, the ''Walter Niemetz Süßwarenfabrik – Fabrikation von Zucker-, Schokolade-, Konditorei- und Dauerbackwaren OHG'' was founded. In 1985, Ursula Niemetz, the daughter of the company founder Walter Niemetz, opened the pastry cafe ''W. u. J. Niemetz zur Pferdeschwemme'' in Salzburg. In 1989, she went to New York and opened a branch there to sell frozen confectionery. After her father died in 1992, Ursula Niemetz returned to Vienna and took over the family business with her partner, Steve A. Batchelor. Ursula Niemetz holds 80 percent of the company. In 2012, the company ran into such serious financial difficulties that it could no longer pay its employees wages. Shortly before the turn of the year, the tax office filed for bankruptcy due to tax debts when Niemetz submitted a restructuring plan. The company initially presented a restructuring plan with a cash quota of 20% for creditors, payable in two years. Still, it then increased the offer to a cash quota of 75% initially and finally 95%, probably because there were numerous interested buyers (among other '' Manner'' and ''Confiserie Heindl''). To do this, the company would have had to raise money to almost the entire company debt of 4.2 million euros. Since this was not possible by the deadline of May 21, 2012, bankruptcy proceedings were opened. Shortly afterward, on 22 May, ''Heidi Chocolat'' acquired the insolvent estate for allegedly 5.25 million euros. After the purchase, Heidi Chocolat AG moved to

in the ''Industriezentrum Niederösterreich'' ''Süd'' (Industrial centre in lower south Austria), where production has been taking place since 2016. In 2016, 100 employees worked at the company. A legal dispute arose over using the name Niemetz, which the company founder's daughter, Ursula Niemetz, wanted to continue using. ''Heidi Chocolat'' said they purchased all tangible and intangible assets in this regard. At the beginning of 2017, Heidi Chocolat bought the chocolate manufacturer ''Schwermer Dietrich Stiel'' and converted it into an independent subsidiary. In 2017, comprehensive research into the ownership structure of Heidi Chocolat AG was published. It was revealed that an elaborate box construction was used to conceal the ownership structure via subcontractors on the Cayman Islands and Malta. This became known through the

Paradise Papers The Paradise Papers are a set of over 13.4 million confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investments that were leaked to the German reporters Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer, from the newspaper'' Süddeutsche Z ...

. In May 2022, CEO Gerhard Schaller was, due to a corruption scandal involving his wife Sophie Karmasin, replaced by Bernhard Kletzmair. Schaller had headed the company since 2014. At the end of 2022, the company closed the

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

location in Switzerland, and parts of the production were taken over by ''Aeschbach Chocolatier AG''. According to Heidi Chocolat, the reason for the closure were high energy prices as well as price increases in other areas.

References

{{reflist Food and drink companies based in Vienna Manufacturing companies based in Vienna Companies established in 1930