Mozart chocolate scandal leaves a bitter taste in Austria

In a small luxury sweetness in Vienna, chefs give one of the most famous souvenirs in Austria the finishing touch: Mozart balls, chocolate balls, filled with marzipan, pistachios and a rich nougat with almonds and hazelnuts.
The family-run leschany company still makes Mozartkugel-Chocolate balls by hand before you pack it in her distinctive packaging with a portrait of the Austrian composer of the 18th century Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
But nowadays is in the minority, and with the growing number of brands, the chocolate candies, which are loved by tourists and locals, are often not even produced in Austria.
The American grocery giant Mondelez, who has one of the best-known brands, laid production from the Austrian city of Salzburg-Mozart-Place after Eastern Europe last month and lit up a heated and long-standing marketing debate.
“It is a shame because Mozart balls is an Austrian product,” said the 75 -year -old chief confectioner and owner Wolfgang Lesantze, 75, AFP.
His company needs 10 traditional steps to produce a single Mozart ball, and around 20,000 of these delicacies are made to order every year.
Mozart balls was invented in 1890 by the confectioner Paul Fürst in Salzburg and became popular in Europe after winning a gold medal at a food fair in Paris in 1905.
The original UR-UR-UR-UR-UR-UR wholesaler Martin now has the business that produces around 3.5 million handmade balls a year, still in Salzburg and still the traditional recipe.
For the main chocolate balls, delivery all over Europe can now be ordered online.
But with growing popularity, imitators and a variety of counterfeits, different fillings, packaging, names as well as competing demands and legal disputes came.
The home family had to fight for years to get the “original Salzburg Mozart ball” (the original Salzburg chocolate balls) in silver foil with a blue stamp, including in court because their ancestors made the mistake not to protect his creation from the start.
Mozart chocolate balls have no protected name of the origin status, which is European protection for food from certain geographical areas such as champagne and parmesan.
Even the German giant Reber, which produces 500,000 balls a day directly opposite Salzburg, is entitled to describe his balls as “authentic”, although he cannot use the term “original”.
For decades, the group's chocolate candies were produced in a factory in Salzburg, but she closed the bankruptcy last year after years.
Referring to high cocoa prices and rising energy costs, Mondelez said and said the Mirabell brand was a “real jewel”, but the weight of the products must be reduced slightly to “remain competitive”.
Mozart Chocolate Bandbars from Mondelez each sell about 0.50 US dollars, while one of the handmade candy from Leschanz costs more than seven times as much.
The Pro GE union, which represents over 60 workers when the Salzburg factory was closed, criticized Mondelez '”lack of transparency” in relation to the new production facility.
“The supply chain for an egg can be better followed,” said the union. | Bgnes