Company History

The history of Chocolat Frey AG is almost as old as that of the European chocolate industry itself. Around the middle of the nineteenth century chocolate making changed over from manual to industrial production. Chocolat Frey AG was founded in 1887 by the brothers Max and Robert Frey in Aarau. In its early days the company considerably influenced the way chocolate moved from being an exclusive indulgence for a few privileged people to being a sweet treat generally available to a wide section of the population.

In 1930 the Migros family also opened a chocolate factory in Wald in Zurich Oberland. In 1940 production was moved to Meilen. In 1950 Migros took over Chocolat Frey AG and imported their existing sweets and confectionery business. In 1967 Chocolat Frey AG moved their production from Aarau to the newly constructed factory in Buchs, Canton Aargau. At the same time the existing Migros Jowa chocolate factory was integrated into Chocolat Frey AG. The following years were distinguished by a series of technical production innovations and the inclusion of sweets and chewing gum in the production programme. In 1982 Chocolat Frey AG started to export and today we are present in over 40 different countries, giving chocolate lovers everywhere the very best selection of quality confectionery.

The most probable biggest celebration took place in1987, to mark the 100th anniversary of Chocolat Frey AG. The nineties were highlighted by three large building projects: the Confectionary extension, the new reception hall and the extension of the raw material receiving department with a disposal centre. In1992 a major milestone was reached, with respect to quality, with the successful certification according to ISO-9001. Due to the continuous increase in export activities, this qualification was further supplemented in 2004 with international certificates according to the IFS (International Food Standard) and the BRC (British Retail Consortium). In our continuous quest to achieve a high quality standard, major investments were made in 2005 to build a modern tank store (traceability) as well as a new building for the cocoa bean processing (strict separation of the clean and unclean production zones). Both have now been taken into operation at our production location in Switzerland.