From a garage to our own manufactory

The story of Taucherli begins in spring 2009 on the shores of Lake Zurich. Michel Bourquin has just returned from a trip to the Netherlands. He brings back an idea he simply can’t shake: drinking chocolate. A product that, at the time, is still relatively unknown in the Swiss chocolate market.

By Lake Zurich, Michel watches the little diving birds known locally as “Taucherli”. He sees them dive beneath the surface, disappear for a moment and pop up somewhere else. And suddenly, everything comes together. The chocolate that gets dipped into hot milk. The Taucherli diving into Lake Zurich. And an idea in need of a name. Taucherli is born.

A few years later, the next chapter begins. In 2015, Kay Keusen takes over Taucherli. He moves production into his garage in the heart of Zurich’s Kreis 5 and dives even deeper into the world of chocolate. He develops, makes, builds, experiments and starts all over again. It’s quite a grind in those far too cramped surroundings.

Machines cost serious money! The chocolate cooling tunnel is the first of many bigger investments. Next comes the move to Zurich Schwamendingen in 2017, into an old post office. But the ceilings are too low for some of the machines!

So Taucherli moves once again and has called Adliswil, right on the edge of Zurich, home since 2019. That same year, two of our bars are recognised by the Academy of Chocolate, one of the world’s most important bean-to-bar chocolate awards: Silver for Ghana 100% and Bronze for Mexico 70%.

By 2020, all the machines are finally up and running. At the same time, the Taucherli fan community and our chocolate range continue to grow.

In 2021, our Betulia B9 80% wins Gold at the Academy of Chocolate. The Cameroon 70%, Betulia B6 70%, Nicaragua 72% and Colombia 77% are also awarded Bronze.

2024 brings another change: Kay leaves Taucherli and Lukas takes over the lead. As Head of Taucherli and co-owner, Lukas brings creative ideas, fresh energy and exciting visions to the company. His dream is to teach Taucherli to fly and see it continue to grow, happy and healthy.

In the manufactory, production manager Mustafa, together with Fatma, Ricardo and Lodoe, works their sensory chocolate magic. They are supported by Lucy, who is always ready to lend a hand. Together, they make sure our chocolate is produced to the highest quality and gets to the right place at the right time.

Asli is our sales and marketing pro. Alongside strategy, she brings new product ideas to life and turns visions into reality. As Lukas’ deputy, she is also his sparring partner and trusted adviser.

Sara rocks the chocolate admin. She juggles incoming orders and the numbers in accounting. As the link between the office and production, she keeps everything under control when orders start piling up at the end of the year, our peak chocolate season.

Taucherli wouldn’t be where it is today without its friends. From the very beginning, Kay’s parents were there to help, sometimes spending days on end wrapping chocolate bars. Ilona passionately built a new website, brought solid structures to the start-up and made an important contribution to Taucherli’s success. Claudio enriched Taucherli with clever recipes, valuable projects and important collaborations.

Another important member of our extended team was Davide, a creative mind behind some of the coolest designs. Chrisis our photography artist and regularly captures our team from its most chocolatey side, while Rafa makes sure our products always look their very best.

And a big merci to all the speciality shops and retailers that have been working with us since the beginning!

So, has Taucherli finally settled down? Not a chance. We’re always moving forward. Along for the ride are our sense of adventure, our curiosity and one promise: there’s always time to try out crazy ideas.

So come with us on a sensory journey through bean-to-bar chocolate. We’re only just getting started!