Although Switzerland doesn't have a tropical climate and never had any colonies, it had two major advantages when it came to the manufacture of chocolate.

In the first place, it has abundant water resources with a flow fast enough to drive machinery. Many of the first chocolate makers set up their businesses in converted flour or saw mills; others built new factories on the banks of rivers.

And in the second place, it is crossed by major trade routes, so although it is landlocked, raw materials could be easily imported. Thanks also to these routes, the Swiss were open to the world. Italy was particularly important as far as chocolate was concerned, with chocolate makers - cioccolatieri - bringing their skills to Switzerland, and Swiss apprentices going to learn their trade in Italian cities like Turin.

Later, in the 19th century, ever increasing tourism brought an influx of well-heeled foreigners - principally British - who become valued customers.

The manufacture of chocolate was not welcomed everywhere. Where factories were established in towns, the neighbours soon started complaining of the smell. Manufacturers who set themselves up outside inhabited areas were not always any more popular. Philippe Suchard's factory made such a din in the narrow Serriere valley just outside Neuchâtel that a tailor who lived nearby found it unbearable and one evening blocked the wheel: the chocolate hardened overnight, and when Suchard tried to set the machinery in motion again everything broke.