【雅思词汇】全球十大巧克力品牌

　　1、Lindt 瑞士莲;

　　160多年来，瑞士莲?史宾利(Lindt & Sprungli)是一个已经传承了六代的瑞士巧克力制造商。这家企业在经历了历史的沧桑变化后，成为19世纪众多优质巧克力创新者中，为数不多的存活下来的家族掌控的瑞士巧克力制造商，从而成为巧克力制造产业中的传奇。Lindt巧克力有Excellence，Lindor，Swiss Classic, Swiss Tradition等不同系列产品。

　　Lindt & Sprüngli AG, more commonly known as Lindt, is a luxury Swiss chocolate and confectionery company.

　　The origins of the company date back to 1845. David Sprüngli-Schwarz and his son, Rudolf Sprüngli-Ammann owned a small confectionery shop in the old town of Zurich, to which two years later a small factory was added to produce chocolate in solid form.

　　With the retirement of Rudolf Sprüngli-Ammann in 1892, the business was divided between his two sons. The younger, David Robert, received two confectionery stores that became known under the name Confiserie Sprüngli. The elder brother, Johann Rudolf, received the chocolate factory. To raise the necessary finance for his expansion plans, Johann Rudolf converted in 1899 his private company into "Chocolat Sprüngli AG". In that same year, he acquired the chocolate factory of Rodolphe Lindt in Bern and the company changed its name to Aktiengesellschaft Vereinigte Berner und Züricher Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli (United Bern and Zurich Lindt & Sprungli Chocolate Factory Ltd.).

　　In 1994, Lindt & Sprüngli acquired the Austrian chocolatier, Hofbauer, and integrated it along with itsKüfferle brand into the company. In 1997 and 1998, respectively, the company acquired the Italian chocolatier, Caffarel and the American chocolatier, Ghirardelli, and integrated them into the company as wholly owned subsidiaries. Since then, Lindt & Sprüngli has expanded the once-regional Ghirardelli to the international market.

　　On March 17, 2009, Lindt announced the closure of 50 of its 80 retail boutiques in theUnited States because of weaker demand in the wake of the late-2000s recession.

　　Lindt & Sprüngli has six factories located in Kilchberg, Switzerland; Aachen, Germany;Oloron-Sainte-Marie, France; Induno Olona, Italy; Gloggnitz, Austria; and Stratham, New Hampshire in the United States. The factory in Gloggnitz, Austria manufactures products under the Hofbauer and Küfferle brand in addition to the Lindt brand. Caffarel's factory is located in Luserna San Giovanni, Italy and Ghirardelli's factory is located in San Leandro, California in the United States.

　　After Lindt recorded net profits of 4.7 million in the 2011 calendar year, it was stated by the marketing team that its market share amounted to 29%, surpassing its past years.