Celebrations during the weekend of 16/17 September 2022 marked the official opening. Around 100 customers from the domestic Swiss and international chocolate and food industries looked around the new cocoa processing plant during the celebrations on Friday, and another 400 guests visited on Saturday as part of the open day.

Oct 7, 2022

On Friday, CEO David Yersin got the celebrations under way and thanked all those involved for the successful execution of the challenging project. In between the ceremonial welcoming addresses by two Schaffhausen political representatives, Project Lead Michael Grether handed over two large, symbolic keys to CEO David Yersin, Executive Board Member Simon Yersin and Plant Manager Yannick Rihs.

Joachim Essig, who was instrumental in the project execution on behalf of plant partner Bühler, expressed how thrilled he was with the successful commissioning of this “high-end plant”. He said that it offered a huge range of technical possibilities over a small footprint and also said that it stood out from the large cocoa processors thanks to its small size, great flexibility and rigorous organic and fair trade certifications. Plant Manager Yannick Rihs wrapped up the celebrations on Friday by reminding guests that, despite global uncertainty, there was one thing that they could pass on to their customers: their infectious enthusiasm for the new plant.

Around 500 guests used the opportunity over that weekend to tour and inspect the plant. This of course included a tasting of fresh cocoa mass, cocoa butter and cocoa powder as well as chocolate sold under PRONATEC’s own brand AMARRÚ. International delicacies, a chocolate truffle slingshot for children, films and photos completed the festivities.

If you were not able to be there, you can get a small insight into our new plant in the film by Bühler Group.

We would like to thank all guests who attended – and the PRONATEC organising committee for these two incredible official opening days!