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A Mozartkugel, the Salzburg sweet that pays tribute to Mozart. Yu Lan
Bitter Farewell for Mozart's Sweet Delight

Bitter Farewell for Mozart's Sweet Delight

The Mozartkugel chocolate balls will cease production in Salzburg, the city named after the musician, following the closure of the factory that produced them.

Álvaro Soto

Madrid

Viernes, 24 de enero 2025, 00:05

No tourist left Salzburg without a box of the famous Mozartkugel in their suitcase, the chocolate treat that has linked the Austrian city with its most famous resident since the late 19th century. However, Salzburg's pride has suffered a blow: its renowned Mozart balls, which is what Mozartkugel means, will no longer be made there following the closure of the factory that produced them.

The company Salzburg Schokolade has declared bankruptcy, partly due to the soaring price of one of the main ingredients of the confection, cocoa, which is now at record levels: nearly 10,000 euros per tonne, compared to 2,000 in January 2023. This price surge is attributed to severe droughts affecting major cocoa-producing countries in Africa, such as Ivory Coast and Ghana, due to climate change.

The closure of the factory, which had been producing the dessert since 1897 and distributing 57 million balls annually, will leave 65 workers unemployed, who were "proud of a product that reaches all corners of the world," lamented the Pro-Ge union.

Like all successful products, the Mozartkugel has many imitations, but only in Salzburg were the authentic Echte Salzburger Mozartkugel produced, with their unique method of preparation: a pistachio marzipan ball coated in nougat is skewered and dipped in dark chocolate, and once the chocolate dries, the skewer is removed and the hole is filled with more chocolate. Immediately after, the distinctive touch was added: the sweet was wrapped in foil bearing Mozart's face, although this last step has been performed by a machine for years, calibrated to do so with precision.

"The heart of the region"

As Pro-Ge recalls, which described the Salzburg Schokolade plant as "the heart of the region," nowhere else was the recipe for the sweet, created in 1890 by Salzburg confectioner Paul Fürst and named in tribute to the great local musician, crafted with such mastery.

But this connection has not softened the hearts of the true owners of the Mozartkugel, because although its essence could not be more Salzburgian, the license for the treat is actually held by the American multinational Mondelez International, which manufactures products like Oreo cookies and Toblerone chocolate bars. Mondelez, which had been trying to save the now-closed factory for three years, has announced it will produce the Mozartkugel at another of its facilities, likely in the Czech Republic or Poland, where costs are lower. "Efforts are underway to ensure production continues without interruption," stated a spokesperson for the corporate conglomerate.

The news of the closure of the most iconic Mozartkugel factory has sparked a frenzy among customers, who have emptied the stock of the balls at the plant's store.

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