Key facts
- Lindt shareholders receive a blue briefcase filled with about 10 pounds of chocolate.
- A Lindt voting share costs around 78,000 Swiss francs ($94,000) and has traded as high as 132,000 Swiss francs ($150,000) in the past year.
- The chocolate briefcase is a thank you gift for shareholders' efforts, according to a Lindt & Sprüngli spokesperson.
- The tradition is compared to Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting, where shareholders can buy discounted goods from the company's businesses.
Wealthy Swiss investors have a unique status symbol: a blue briefcase filled with approximately 10 pounds of chocolate, given annually to voting shareholders of Lindt & Sprüngli. The tradition, known as a "Schokoladekoffer" or "chocolate suitcase," is seen as a distinctively Swiss way of demonstrating wealth and affiliation with the company.
A Lindt voting share costs around 78,000 Swiss francs (more than $94,000) and has traded as high as 132,000 Swiss francs (over $150,000) in the past year. Thierry Borgeat, co-founder and chief investor of Swiss asset manager arvy, described the practice as a "flex — but a very Swiss kind of flex," noting that owning a registered share in the 180-year-old chocolate company and carrying the chocolate suitcase through Zurich is a subtle display of wealth, unlike owning a Ferrari or a flashy watch.
Borgeat recalled that in his wealth management days, sharing the chocolate haul after the annual meeting served as a subtle signal to colleagues that one owned a full Lindt registered share. He attributed the exclusivity of this tradition to Lindt's exceptional long-term investment performance, with its stock climbing from about 3,600 Swiss francs in April 1995 to a peak of 132,000 Swiss francs last October, a 36-fold increase. However, the stock has recently declined due to record high temperatures impacting sales and elevated cocoa prices squeezing profits.
A Lindt & Sprüngli spokesperson stated that the gift boxes are a "thank you for their efforts" to voting shareholders and contain a variety of Lindt products as a surprise. Lawrence Cunningham, director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, views the gift boxes as effective marketing and a thoughtful gesture that fosters goodwill by putting the company's product directly into shareholders' hands.
The phenomenon is often compared to Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting, where shareholders gather in Omaha to meet Warren Buffett and purchase discounted goods from the conglomerate's various businesses, including See's Candies. Borgeat sees similarities between the two companies, noting that both Lindt and Berkshire create a sense of identity and community among their shareholders, extending beyond mere investment to foster a shared experience.