Chocolate Snow Showers Swiss Town After Lindt Factory Malfunctions

A Swiss town experienced chocolate snow after a local outlet of the Lindt & Spruengli factory suffered a malfunction in its ventilation system and particles of fine cocoa powder started spewing out in the air.

The company confirmed local reports Tuesday that its ventilation system for a line of roasted cocoa nibs malfunctioned in its factory in Olten, between Zurich and Basel, on Friday, Aug. 14, sending cocoa nibs and fragments of crushed cocoa beans into the air. The nibs were then spread around the immediate vicinity of the factory by the strong winds, thus covering the area in a blanket of chocolate dusting.

Lindt & Spruengli said a car was lightly coated with the chocolate dust and that the company had offered to pay for any cleaning required. However, the owner of the car hasn’t yet taken them up on the offer, USA Today reported.

After the Friday incident, the production resumed shortly as the company said the particles would not pose any danger to the people or the environment. The ventilation system has now been repaired.

The company traces its origin back to 1845 when the founder David Sprüngli-Schwarz and his son Rudolf Sprüngli-Ammann started manufacturing chocolate in a solid form out of a small confectionery shop in the Marktgasse of Zurich's Old Town. The duo then decided to move the chocolate production from the small bakery to a factory equipped with a water-supply in Horgen at the top end of Lake Zurich, employing ten workers, and opened a larger confectionary in 1859 in Zurich’s Paradeplatz. The company had since acquired a widespread reputation for the quality of its products.