Training and professional development

Qualified professionals are the prerequisite for manufacturing outstanding products. This is why training and professional development are a high priority in Swiss chocolate factories. The training of food technologists (LMT) and food practitioners (LMP) plays an important role here. These professionals check the quality of raw materials, semi-finished and finished products, operate modern production facilities, set up machines, monitor the production process and implement the specifications of the quality management system, the hygiene concept and work safety.

Basic training as a food technologist and practitioner focussing on chocolate

The member companies of CHOCOSUISSE are involved in a working group on food technologists, the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Lebensmitteltechnologe (AG LMT), for optimal conditions in the training and professional development of LMT and LMP focussing on chocolate.

The LMT working group as an organisation of the working world (OdA) is the responsible body for vocational training in the field of food technology and is responsible for inter-company training and professional development. It develops the training offer, defines content, coordinates the cooperation with the two school locations Strickhof and Grangeneuve, and organises inter-company courses and the training of vocational trainers and examination experts.

Most CHOCOSUISSE member companies also offer apprenticeships for LMTs and LMPs. Representatives of chocolate factories contribute to the board of directors of the LMT working group with regard to the specialisation in chocolate. The corresponding needs and requirements are defined in two bodies: in the chocolate industry group of CHOCOSUISSE and in the Education and Training Commission of CHOCOSUISSE and BISCOSUISSE.

Further training for professional examinations and higher professional examinations

The two-stage further training programme enables the successful completion on the one hand of the Federal Professional Examination Food Technology with the focus on a specialised career and, on the other, of the Federal Higher Professional Examination Food Technology for a managerial career.

Training and professional development of personnel subject to the collective labour agreement

The CHOCOSUISSE fund subsidises member companies for the training and professional development of production personnel subject to the collective labour agreement of the Swiss chocolate industry. Subsidies are paid e.g. for in-house training in hygiene, workplace safety and accident prevention.

Responsible commissions: Chocolate industry group of CHOCOSUISSE and in the Education and Training Commission of CHOCOSUISSE and BISCOSUISSE.