Maison Cailler, Switzerland’s oldest operational chocolate brand, is planning on building a giant chocolate-themed park. The attraction will have a price tag of CHF 400 million (€436 million) and should open its doors in 2030.
According to the chocolate manufacturer, the Parc du chocolat Cailler, as the project is called, is meant to “promote the unique cultural and industrial heritage of the site and the production of Cailler chocolate”.
The company and the investors backing the project hope to be able to attract some 700,000 to 800,000 chocolate lovers during the first year, and over a million per year afterwards. Spanning over 30,000 square meters, the site in Broc (Gruyère) will require a total investment of some CHF 400 million (€436 million), including hotels, restaurants, chocolate tastings, and educational opportunities.
However, for the project, Maison Cailler won’t have to start from zero. The park will be a mix of old and new buildings. The factory in Broc has been recognised as being the oldest operating chocolate factory in the world and is listed in Switzerland’s Federal Inventory of Heritage Sites. The on-site Maison Cailler museum, attracting some 400,000 visitors per year, will be demolished in order to make room for a restored Neo-Renaissance facade. And the factory’s forecourt will be lowered in order to sit at its original level, where visitors will be able to participate in cooking workshops led by master chocolatiers.
The final outlay of the new attraction is expected to include the factory’s former mechanical workshops, a reconstructed production line, a new gallery, as well as a cocoa bean-shaped greenhouses in order to take curious-minded chocolate lovers on an immersive tour. In the so-called Chocolate Emporium at the end of the journey, visitors will be able to try the entire Cailler range.
In order to alleviate traffic, a direct train will run from Bern to the Broc-Chocolaterie. A cable lift has also been planned to connect the chocolate park to an off-site underground parking garage.
At the moment of writing, the park is still subject to planning permission, which will involve an amendment to the Local Development Plan and ten building permit applications. Nonetheless, investors plan to complete the first phase of the building by 2030. And although 2030 is not that far off, especially for a project of such a size, Maison Cailler is even planning a pre-opening between late 2027 and mid 2028.
