It was Henri Escher, a native of Zurich, who first brought chocolate to Switzerland in 1697 after he discovered it during a trip to Brussels. Rodolphe Lindt introduced "conching," a refining step designed to break up large particles to produce a smooth creamy cocoa mass. In 1913 he invented filled chocolate.

Henri Nestlé, a pharmacist during the 1860s, was studying the properties of his cows' milk while his friend and neighbour, Daniel Peter, was making candies. In 1876, Peter decided to combine cocoa powder with milk to tone down its bitter taste. Thus milk chocolate was born and for the next three decades the Peter, Cailler & Kohler company bought Nestlé's milk. In 1929, Nestlé bought the company from Peter, marking an important step in the history of this Swiss empire which now has holdings around the world.