The outdoor Cailler chocolate game
A pioneer in the fields
Third stop: Fountain on Route du Lac
Narrator:
From here to Route du Lac, it’s easy to see why Alexandre Cailler’s factory is built at a strategic location. The building you see to your right, with the pointed roof and the big green pipe, near the river, is the Electrobroc electric power station. Before it was built, the chocolate factory had to generate its own power.
Alexandre Cailler:
So yes, dear Federal Councilor! Back then, in 1900, we took it upon ourselves to build a first dam on the river. And then, very soon, we had to build a second one. The thing is, our machines require power. Our conch run on hydro-power, and our motors are powered by electricity. At the time we already had 67 electric motors. All of that required a lot of power, but also a lot of money! We put all our savings into it, but it wasn’t enough.
That’s when with my brother-in-law Julles Bellet, we decided to create a bigger company, a corporation, which enabled us to raise money from other investors and partners who believed in us!
