Max Chocolatier is a small family-owned premium chocolate company based in Lucerne Switzerland. In 2021, they opened their new atelier and Chocolate Design Studio, where they offer chocolate workshops and tastings designed for chocolate enthusiasts. As a long time fan of their exquisite chocolate truffles, I was delighted to attend their workshop to see how and where the magic happens.
Note: Thanks to Max Chocolatier for hosting our visit. The opinions expressed here are my own.
Max Chocolatier company
I didn’t know much about this small company before the workshop, besides that I love their chocolate. Max Chocolatier is relatively new on the Swiss chocolate scene, but has gained quite a loyal following since they opened in 2009. They specialize in high-quality sophisticated chocolate, all handmade by expert chocolatiers. Named after the founder’s son, Max Chocolatier is committed to sustainability and fair trade, values shared by their partner Felchin, also a Swiss company, who provides their single origin cocoa mass.
Learn more about the company in this Transhelvetica article.
The chocolate
Although Max Chocolatier produces a variety of chocolate products, I’m most familiar with their chocolate truffles that have creative and delicious flavor combinations like Litschi & Chili or Caramel & Passionfrucht. My son’s favorite was Strawberry & Lime, which I agree was absolutely divine.
Some flavors are available year round, like their classic Java 64%. But each season, they introduce new flavors to surprise and delight their fans. Because Max Chocolatier uses only natural ingredients and no preservatives, the chocolates should be eaten within 2 months of purchase. But I never have a problem with that. They are usually gone before I even make it home.
Last year, I was so excited to finally get their Christmas Advent calendar, which always sells out already in October. Their small team make all the calendar chocolates for around 2000 boxes last week of November, just before shipping so it’s absolutely fresh for their customers. Best part of the holiday for me!
Boutiques
Max Chocolatier has small two boutiques, one in Lucerne and one in Zürich.
Hertensteinstrasse 7, 6004 Lucerne (see on map)
open Mon – Fri 10:00 – 18:30, Sat 9:00 – 17:00
Schlüsselgasse 12, 8001 Zurich (see on map)
open Tues to Fri 11:00 – 19:00, Sat 10:00 – 17:00
I found that the staff are really helpful and knowledge about their products. When I was researching for my Zurich self-guided chocolate tour, the woman at Max Chocolatier was so friendly and was able to give me so much information about their company and products.
They also have an online shop where you can also ship internationally.
Chocolate making workshop
The chocolate making and tasting workshops at Max Chocolatier are designed for serious chocolate enthusiasts that are interested in seeing behind the scenes of a small artisan producer and chatting directly with the expert chocolatier team. If you’re looking more for a bit of fun, particularly with young children, you might be better off with one of the bigger mass market brands that are focused more on entertainment.
Our workshop was hosted by their head chocolatier, Dani, who is responsible for dreaming up the new flavor combinations that come out each season. I loved picking his brain and learning a little about his creative process.
We started with a background of the company and basics of chocolate production. We tasted the base single-origin chocolates they use in their various products.
After a demonstration, we each piped chocolate in bar molds.
Then we decorated them with toppings like hazelnuts, cocoa nibs, dried raspberry, and sea salt.
While these cooled, Dani showed us around around the atelier, just one small room where four chocolatiers hand make everything. This was my favorite part because at other chocolate factories, you never get to see the real equipment up close and certainly not with the head chocolatier explaining everything with such passion.
He demonstrated all the equipment and explaining their processes.
Dani showed us so many interesting machines, tools and molds they use to create different types of truffles, bars and figures.
Below is a machine that dices the truffle filling into squares. The machine on the right cools the chocolates. They put a cow bell before the chocolate, so when you hear it hit the floor, you know it’s time to go catch the chocolate off the conveyer blet.
Then we got to see their storage room where all the precious chocolates are waiting (just briefly) to be sent over to the boutiques. We tasted some amazing fresh chocolate truffles from the supply and wished we could take them all home with us.
Then we returned to the design studio to unmold our bars and decorate them further by writing with white chocolate. After that chocolate set, we placed them in the signature Max Chocolatier packaging, ready for gifts or to enjoy later at home.
I really enjoyed this chance to learn more about this special company is who doing something different than most other chocolate companies. Their passion and vision is contagious and made me want to also be part of such a cool team. But for now, I’ll just keep enjoying their chocolates as often as I can.
How to get there
Max Chocolatier hosts workshops and events in their Lucerne Design Studio in the same building as their corporate offices: Obergrundstrasse 42 Lucerne
By public transport: From the Luzern main train station, it’s about a 10 min walk as shown below.
By car: The closest parking is Obergrundstrasse 59-61 Luzern. There is another parking garage at Pilatusstrasse 46 Luzern.
Workshop booking
The workshops are available for booking Mon – Fri from 8:00 – 18:00.
The Tasting workshop is CHF 300 for up to 4 people. The Making workshop is CHF 340 for up to 4 people. You can schedule it online here: https://en.maxchocolatier.com/events
