Sweet Dreams: It’s literally raining chocolate in a Swiss town

Dreams do come true — or at least they do in Switzerland, where chocolate fell from the sky due to a malfunction at the Lindt factory

[Aug. 19, 2020: Joshua Shavit]

Dreams do come true — or at least they do in Switzerland, where chocolate rained down from the sky due to a malfunction at the Lindt & Sprüngli factory in the town of Olten.

The chocolate maker says a ventilation problem launched cocoa powder into the open air outside its facility last Friday morning. The wind caught the powder and spread it across the neighborhood, leaving a fine dusting of sweet, sweet chocolate.

A photo showing a car in Olten dusted with cocoa powder has gone viral. The company said the chocolate particles were completely harmless to humans and the environment.

Lindt says the powder came from cocoa nibs, which are the crushed cocoa bean fragments used to make chocolate. It was a minor incident and the cocoa poses no threat to the surrounding area.

Lindt said in its statement that the company worked quickly to "remedy this defect" and that that production was able to continue as normal.

Lindt has offered to pay for someone to clean the chocolate off the car, though it probably wouldn’t be hard to find a volunteer.

In other words, chocolate rain is only in the past, they say.


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Joseph Shavit
Joseph ShavitSpace, Technology and Medical News Writer
Joseph Shavit is the head science news writer with a passion for communicating complex scientific discoveries to a broad audience. With a strong background in both science, business, product management, media leadership and entrepreneurship, Joseph possesses the unique ability to bridge the gap between business and technology, making intricate scientific concepts accessible and engaging to readers of all backgrounds.