Cover Läderach recently opened a store inside Hong Kong's K11 Musea (Photo: courtesy of Läderach)
Läderach recently opened a store inside Hong Kong's K11 Musea (Photo: courtesy of Läderach)
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Läderach’s founder patented a way to hollow out a truffle. Fifty-six years and three generations later, that same restlessness has landed the family chocolatier in Hong Kong
In 1970, in the town of Ennenda, in the small Swiss canton of Glarus, a chocolatier named Rudolf Läderach Jr patented something almost absurdly specific: a process for manufacturing thin-walled, hollow chocolate shells, each one weighing 2.7 grams. Before Läderach’s patent, producing a truffle shell thin and even enough to hold a filling—without collapsing, cracking or turning into a solid, clumsy lump—was slow, inconsistent, hand-driven work. His process made it repeatable at scale; he effectively invented the mechanics of the modern moulded praline. Every filled chocolate you’ve eaten with a clean, thin shell owes something to that patent.
That specificity has remained behind the company’s operating logic ever since. It’s also part of the reason why Läderach is opening stores in Hong Kong, a city that rewards this kind of obsessive detail.
The bakery behind the patent
Läderach didn’t start as a chocolate house. Läderach Jr’s father had run a bakery in Netstal, a village near Glarus, since 1926; in 1962, the son founded his own company, a producer of confectionery gifts for local businesses—but not a consumer chocolate brand. The 1970 patent changed that trajectory: it turned a village bakery’s offshoot into a company that other chocolatiers had to reckon with. Läderach handed the business to his son Jürg in 1994, who began the international expansion into Germany, Austria and the UK, and later acquired Merkur Confiserie in 2004—a move that allowed Läderach to sell its chocolates direct to consumers.
By 2018, Jürg had passed operational control to his three sons: Johannes as CEO, Elias overseeing production and innovation, and David leading digital transformation. That same year, Elias beat 19 other competitors to become the first Swiss chocolatier to win the title of World Chocolate Master.
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Three generations in, the company still won’t outsource its chocolate-making. Läderach is one of a small number of premium chocolatiers that controls the entire process from bean to counter, sourcing cocoa directly from farmers in Madagascar, Costa Rica, Trinidad, Ghana, Brazil and Ecuador—all certified by the Rainforest Alliance—and paying more than a third above standard market prices for it. It’s an expensive way to run a chocolate company, but it’s also the reason a slab of FrischSchogg, or “fresh chocolate”, tastes so different from what sits in a typical duty-free gift box.
Rewriting the recipe
In 2022, Läderach launched its cashew vegan line, sold under the name Creamy Cashew. Based around cashew milk instead of dairy, it became part of the core range, aimed at a customer who wants the ritual of a Läderach slab without the animal-derived ingredients. It’s a minor product line by volume, but it signals something about how the company treats change.
Expansion into Hong Kong
That instinct for expansion is what brought Läderach to K11 Musea in September 2025—its first flagship in Hong Kong, developed with Valiram Group, the retail operator behind the city’s Michael Kors, Swarovski and Godiva stores. A second location followed within weeks at Hong Kong International Airport. The Hong Kong flagship also debuted an exclusive range of alcohol-filled chocolates, made specifically for the market, alongside the full line-up of FrischSchoggi and the 29 varieties of pralines and truffles still handmade in Ennenda.
“Hong Kong has always been on our radar, but the moment that truly crystallised it for us was seeing how deeply the city appreciates absolute freshness, mastery and craft,” Johannes Läderach told Tatler this month. “Hong Kong consumers have a remarkably sophisticated palate, an appetite for premium Swiss artisanal craftsmanship, and a vibrant gifting culture that aligns perfectly with us. We knew that when expanding in Asia, we had to be in a city where quality is immediately recognised and celebrated—and Hong Kong was undeniably the natural choice.”
More stores are already planned across the city; a company that spent five decades perfecting a single truffle shell is now betting that same patience translates to success in an entirely new market.
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As Content Director at Tatler Hong Kong, Tara shapes the brand's editorial vision across social, digital and print, and reports on Asia's most influential figures — from CEOs and leaders across business, style and the arts. In her dual role as Head of VIP, she also drives the planning and execution of Tatler's flagship IPs, curating star-studded events and building the relationships and communities that define the brand. Born and raised in the Middle East, she honed her craft in Dubai, crafting communication strategies for luxury brands across the Gulf. Follow her on Instagram @tarasobti.
