Chocolat Villars

Villars maître chocolatier SA
legal form	Corporation
founding	1901
Seat	Friborg , Switzerland
management	Stephan Buchser
Number of employees	around 140
Branch	Food
Website	www.villars.com

Chocolat Villars (actually Villars Maître Chocolatier SA) is a chocolate factory in Friborg / Switzerland that has existed since 1901 . Your building complex has been used by the company since 1901 and is a Swiss cultural asset of national importance.

history

The chocolate factory was founded on May 22nd, 1901 by Wilhelm Kaiser on the Perolles plateau, at that time in the municipality of Villars-sur-Glâne . In 1904 the company was named Villars AG. In 1935, the year the founder died, a coffee roastery was added. In the same year, she also launched the first chocolate bar filled with liqueur .

After the death of Olivier Kaiser (son of Wilhelm Kaiser) in 1969, the family business was taken over by his trustee, who named it Villars Holding . In 1985, Villars Holding sold chocolate production to Cremo SA. In 1995 it was taken over by the multinational Soparind Bongrain, a group that renamed itself Savencia in 2015 . Chocolat Villars is part of the Savencia Gourmet subgroup within the Savencia Group .

The company employed around 1,200 people in the 1920s, only around 400 after the Second World War and around 100 in 2000; At the end of 2010 the chocolate company had around 140 employees.

The company is now managed by Stephan Buchser, who succeeded Jean-Pierre Geneslay in April 2018.

Since 2017, chocolate with a Swiss cross and the name Swiss has been that at least 80% of the ingredients must come from Switzerland. In addition, the processing that gives the product its special properties must take place in Switzerland. Chocolat Villars is building its marketing on Swissness . According to its own declaration, it processes 100% Swiss milk, 100% Swiss sugar and 100% Swiss alcohol. The company is a member of Chocosuisse, the association that stands for the protection of the “Switzerland” brand.

Culture

Entrance to the café with the Chocolat Villars shop

The Chocolat Villars factory building in Friborg is one of the cultural assets of national importance in the canton of Friborg . It was used as a chocolate factory when it was founded in 1901.

The so-called “Villars cow”, created by Zug artist Martin Peikert as an advertising figure in 1906, was a well-known advertising medium for Chocolat Villars throughout Switzerland for a long time. Its number had to be greatly reduced, partly due to safety regulations in the Swiss traffic law.

literature

Danielle Hennard: Cremo - Villars: a terrible esprit de famille. In: Bilan, no10, 1994, pp.78-82.
Samuel Jordan: Chocolats Villars SA (1901–1954): Le parcours d'une entreprise atypique. Friborg, Université de Friborg, coll. Aux sources du temps présent. 2001 (French)
Alexandra Uebersax: La stratégie de communication de Villars Maître Chocolatier SA: la chocolaterie lance le chocolat à l'ancienne. (Mémoire de license). Université de Friborg, Friborg 2005.
Henri Montavon, David Puntaner, Wilfred Rebetez, Olivier Grivois: Chocolat Villars: le prix de la tradition. Classe éco, RTS: Télévision suisse romande, November 27, 2006 (French)

Web links

Commons : Fabrique de chocolat Villars - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

^ AFP: Bongrain change de nom et devient Savencia. In: Le Figaro. lefigaro.fr, March 16, 2015, accessed February 25, 2020 (French).
↑ https://www.savencia.com/en/savencia-gourmet
^ Anne Wicht-Piérard and Ernst Grell: Villars. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland. 2013, accessed February 24, 2020 .
^ TG: Nouveau directeur pour Villars Maître Chocolatier. In: La Liberté. January 23, 2018, accessed February 25, 2020 (French).
^ Chocolat Villars: Commitment. In: Villars - pur chocolat suisse. Retrieved February 24, 2020 .
↑ Swiss inventory of cultural assets of national importance. Federal Office for Civil Protection (FOCP), accessed on February 25, 2002 .
↑ Peikert, Martin. In: Sikart
↑ Hans Bärenbold: Advertising cow. In: DRS aktuell. May 24, 1984, Retrieved February 25, 2020 .

[1] AFP: Bongrain change de nom et devient Savencia. In: Le Figaro. lefigaro.fr, March 16, 2015, accessed February 25, 2020 (French).

[2] ttps://www.savencia.com/en/savencia-gourmet

[3] Anne Wicht-Piérard and Ernst Grell: Villars. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland. 2013, accessed February 24, 2020 .

[4] TG: Nouveau directeur pour Villars Maître Chocolatier. In: La Liberté. January 23, 2018, accessed February 25, 2020 (French).

[5] Chocolat Villars: Commitment. In: Villars - pur chocolat suisse. Retrieved February 24, 2020 .

[6] Swiss inventory of cultural assets of national importance. Federal Office for Civil Protection (FOCP), accessed on February 25, 2002 .

[7] Peikert, Martin. In: Sikart

[8] Hans Bärenbold: Advertising cow. In: DRS aktuell. May 24, 1984, Retrieved February 25, 2020 .