New production line for white couvertures

What sets the new production line apart?

With the new “White Line”, Felchlin is making a targeted investment in modern production processes, the highest quality standards and greater flexibility – creating ideal conditions to meet the growing demands of the market.

State-of-the-art climate-control technology ensures a constant room temperature and precisely regulated humidity levels. Combined with the high degree of automation, this creates standardised and reliably controlled process conditions. Permanently installed storage tanks also provide extensive capacity for storing liquid couvertures.

The innovative conching technology enables particularly intensive conching, thereby contributing to the consistently high quality of Felchlin couvertures. Another key advantage is the improved cleanability of the production lines.

As this is a dedicated production line for white chocolate, we can further optimise the production of this product category and clearly separate it from other production processes.In particular for certified speciality batches, the new line provides additional security and enables more flexible production planning.

“With the new White Line, we have commissioned a state-of-the-art production facility for the rapidly growing white chocolate segment. In addition to further enhancing quality, the new line provides us with additional capacity and flexibility – representing an important investment in the future of our manufacturing operations.”
Ruedi Kalbermatten, Head of the Manufacturing Business Unit at Max Felchlin AG

From planning to commissioning

State-of-the-art, high-performance equipment was installed to create the new production line. Machinery weighing several tonnes had to be transported to its final location and installed with great precision – a major logistical undertaking requiring meticulous planning and coordination. The heaviest component weighed 5.5 tonnes, while the longest conveyor belt is six metres long..The implementation was particularly challenging because existing production operations had to continue without interruption throughout the entire installation phase.

In June, the new sugar silo and cocoa butter tank in the extension building were filled for the first time. The line was subsequently started up, thoroughly tested and used for trial production runs. All products underwent rigorous sensory and quality testing, ensuring that you, as our partners and customers, continue to receive the familiar flavour profiles and quality standards, while maintaining stable processing parameters.

Following the successful completion of all tests, the production line was officially commissioned in August. All white couvertures will now be transferred to the new line in stages.

As part of this transition, the affected white chocolates will also be standardised with sunflower lecithin. Products that currently contain soya lecithin will be adapted accordingly. Due to the resulting changes to declarations and product master data, existing items will be replaced with new article numbers. Further information about the affected products and their new article numbers will follow shortly .

Extension building strengthens production and logistics capacities

The new production line is located in the extension building, which was officially inaugurated in November 2025. The state-of-the-art building complex includes a new dispatch area with a cold-storage room and a temperature-controlled warm room, extensive warehouse space and the infrastructure required for the new production facilities.

The new building also houses a workshop and spare-parts warehouse, ensuring efficient maintenance and reliable access to essential components. Felchlin has thus created the spatial and technical foundations for further growth and future developments at its Ibach site.

Taking sustainability consistently further

The extension building has also significantly improved the site’s energy efficiency. The most important measures include optimised heat recovery using two central storage tanks, a high-performance rooftop photovoltaic system and an ice storage system for the efficient utilisation and storage of surplus energy. The photovoltaic system comprises 414 modules covering an area of 825 square metres and generates approximately 200,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. This is equivalent to the average annual electricity consumption of around 80 Swiss households.

By combining these systems, Max Felchlin AG can use energy even more efficiently while simultaneously reducing the resources consumed in its production processes. The extension building will strengthen the Ibach production site for the long term and underlines Felchlin’s commitment to quality, innovation and sustainable growth.