Fabrique de chocolat Cailler, Chocolate factory in Broc, Switzerland.
Fabrique de chocolat Cailler is a chocolate factory in Broc that uses specialized machinery and traditional methods to process cocoa into finished products. The facility displays the complete production chain from raw cocoa beans to finished confections.
Alexandre-François-Louis Cailler moved chocolate production to a new factory in Broc in 1897-1898, where a process for mass-producing milk chocolate was developed. The workforce grew from 120 employees in 1898 to 1400 in 1913, driving economic development in the Gruyère region while Fribourg's economy remained largely agricultural. Nestlé took over Maison Cailler in 1929.
The factory's name and its visitor centre keep the Cailler brand alive in the Gruyère region, where the plant drove economic change in an otherwise agricultural canton. The centre explains the company's history and how Swiss chocolate is made, and the site is listed as a class B Swiss cultural property of regional significance.
The factory sits at the end of the Bulle–Broc-Fabrique railway line, opened in 1912, so the visit can be combined with a train trip to the Broc-Fabrique station. The visitor centre explains the company's history and the production process of Swiss chocolate.
Alexandre-François-Louis Cailler sat on the board of the Chemins de fer électriques de la Gruyère when the line was built; it opened the Bulle–Broc-Fabrique railway and its station in 1912. The factory stands at the end of that line and is connected to it, so the chocolate works and its rail link were planned together.
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