Why cheese and choco\u00adlate are more than just eco\u00adnom\u00adi\u00adcal products\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh, you\u2019re from Switzer\u00adland, isn\u2019t that where all that great cheese and choco\u00adlate come from?\u201d, (peo\u00adple ask)you\u2019re asked when\u00adev\u00ader you tell them you come from Switzer\u00adland. I have been asked that ques\u00adtion mul\u00adti\u00adple times when\u00adev\u00ader I was trav\u00adel\u00adling in hun\u00adgary. These are not just clich\u00e9s: cheese and choco\u00adlate are impor\u00adtant for the Swiss econ\u00ado\u00admy. Cheese exports <\/a>are worth 693.8 mil\u00adlion Swiss francs a year, while choco\u00adlate<\/a> brings in 1.5 bil\u00adlion Swiss francs. \u201cMade in Switzer\u00adland\u201d is regard\u00aded as an indi\u00adca\u00adtor of high quality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How\u00adev\u00ader, the sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcance of these two prod\u00aducts goes beyond their eco\u00adnom\u00adic val\u00adue: they real\u00adly are intrin\u00adsic parts of Swiss cul\u00adture. We all know that a piece of \u201cGruy\u00e8re\u201d<\/a>or a piece of Lindt choco\u00adlate is irre\u00adsistible. But how do peo\u00adple who work with these prod\u00aducts all their lives see them? Is the yeasty taste of cheese and the sweet taste of choco\u00adlate the same for some\u00adone so close to them? <\/p>\n\n\n\n The cheese cul\u00adture in Switzer\u00adland dates back a long time and actu\u00adal\u00adly orig\u00adi\u00adnates from France. Even though that\u2019s the case, Switzer\u00adland rein\u00advent\u00aded cheese and made it its own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Count\u00adless vari\u00adeties have devel\u00adoped over the years. A lot of love and tra\u00addi\u00adtion goes into them all. Of course, the way cheese is made has evolved. Until the 18th cen\u00adtu\u00adry hard cheese pro\u00adduc\u00adtion only took place in the alps<\/a> in sum\u00admer, con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00ading that cow\u2019s milk was very lim\u00adit\u00aded and was need\u00aded for oth\u00ader pur\u00adpos\u00ades too. Peo\u00adple used to do every\u00adthing by hand, using spe\u00adcialised tools, where\u00adas now, machines are more and more impor\u00adtant. But cheese\u00admak\u00aders\u2019 pride in their \u201cwhite gold\u201d remains. Cer\u00adti\u00adfied mas\u00adter cheese\u00admak\u00ader Heinz Eggi\u00admann says \u201cThe art of mak\u00ading cheese depends on hav\u00ading a true pas\u00adsion for it, hav\u00ading expe\u00adri\u00adence and crafts\u00adman\u00adship. It takes a lot of time and effort to learn to be a good cheese\u00admak\u00ader\u201d. He\u2019s been work\u00ading with cheese for 22 years now. He says that no machine could ever learn and recre\u00adate cer\u00adtain fea\u00adtures that a real cheese\u00admak\u00ader requires. Cheese is some\u00adthing tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly cher\u00adished in his family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Swiss choco\u00adlate is famous through\u00adout the world for its out\u00adstand\u00ading qual\u00adi\u00adty, unique feel, and wide range of tastes. How\u00adev\u00ader, it is also an impor\u00adtant part of every\u00adday life in Switzer\u00adland itself. The chances of you find\u00ading a Swiss per\u00adson who has not eat\u00aden choco\u00adlate are very low. Accord\u00ading to the sta\u00adtis\u00adtics for 2021, Switzer\u00adland has the high\u00adest choco\u00adlate con\u00adsump\u00adtion in the world, at 8.8kg per per\u00adson per year.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n I sup\u00adpose every child dreams of hav\u00ading a father who works in a choco\u00adlate fac\u00adto\u00adry and brings home a lot. One might assume that in the mod\u00adern world, big inter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal com\u00adpa\u00adnies have lost the human touch \u2013 but it seems that this is not true in the choco\u00adlate indus\u00adtry. Lindt is one of the biggest choco\u00adlate com\u00adpa\u00adnies in Switzer\u00adland and a major exporter. Over 150 mil\u00adlion Lindt \u201cGold Bun\u00adnies\u201d are pro\u00adduced each year.<\/a> And this only cov\u00aders the demand for Lindt choco\u00adlate for East\u00ader. Lindt is also the com\u00adpa\u00adny which invent\u00aded conch\u00ading<\/a>, which is the long process of mix\u00ading cocoa , sug\u00adar and milk at a high tem\u00adper\u00ada\u00adture until the melt\u00ading choco\u00adlate results. <\/p>\n\n\n\n