In 1826 he built his first chocolate factory in Serrieres, where he raised manufacturing standards and lowered prices. He invented various machines and devices. The one that is very important to the chocolate production is a special machine to mix sugar and cocoa powder to make the chocolate a homogeneous mass.
By 1833 Suchard was the largest chocolate company in Switzerland, producing half of the nation’s total production, employing approximately 250 people.
The Suchard Company opened its first plant outside Switzerland, in Lörrach, Germany, in 1880, the first in a series of international expansion efforts. In 1901 Suchard established the Milka chocolate brand, one of Europe's oldest and most popular brands of milk chocolate.
The Suchard and Tobler companies joined forces in 1970 to form Interfood, which Jacobs’ coffee company joined 12 years later to form Jacobs Suchard. The Tobler company began in 1867 when Jean Tobler, formally Johann Jakob Tobler, opened a small shop called Confiserie Spécial in Switzerland.
In 1990 Kraft General Foods acquired Jacobs Suchard, making it number one in the European roast and ground coffee market and a leader in confectionery.
Philippe Suchard confectionery company
