Previous post Next post

The king of chocolate in Mexico

A rags-to-riches career straight out of a film script: as a young man, the protagonist emigrates to Mexico. Once there, he becomes the first ever manufacturer of white chocolate and goes on to become an entrepreneur worth millions. The life of Gianfranco Arnoldi. (SRF/swissinfo.ch)

Arnoldi has always been in the confectionary business. He learnt his craft at the Vanini pastry shop in Lugano and, by the age of 19, was already a chief chocolatier. Later, Arnoldi produced chocolate at the upmarket Palace Hotels in Gstaad and Lucerne, then at the Ritz in Barcelona. 

Switzerland had become too limiting for him and he was attracted by the revolutionary atmosphere of Mexico. In 1956, a Hilton hotel was opened in Mexico City and Arnold signed a one year contract. He moved from Hilton to Hilton, married a Mexican, and finally opened his own confectionary shop in Mexico city in 1968.

The firm prospered, even though he had to overcome some cultural differences. Mexicans mostly knew chocolate as a drink made from cocoa and sugar, or as a spicy sauce for marinating chicken thighs. They had to get used to the idea of eating it in solid form. 

Arnold now has 25 shops in Mexico. “It’s not easy producing top quality (chocolate) for so long”, he says rather wistfully. His son is now running the business and looking to expand. 

swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events.

For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel:

Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch
Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos
Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos

Are you the author?
About Swissinfo
Swissinfo
SWI swissinfo.ch – the international service of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Since 1999, swissinfo.ch has fulfilled the federal government’s mandate to distribute information about Switzerland internationally, supplementing the online offerings of the radio and television stations of the SBC. Today, the international service is directed above all at an international audience interested in Switzerland, as well as at Swiss citizens living abroad.
Previous post See more for 3.) Swissinfo Business and Economy Next post
Tags:

Permanent link to this article: https://snbchf.com/video/the-king-of-chocolate-in-mexico/

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.