Austria chocolate row leaves a bitter taste

At a small high-end confectionery in Vienna, chefs put the finishing touches to one of Austria’s signature souvenirs: Mozart chocolate balls filled with marzipan, pistachio, and rich almond and hazelnut nougat.

- KIYOKO METZLER

Family-owned Leschanz still painstakingly makes the Mozartkugel chocolates by hand before putting them in their signature wrapping, featuring a portrait of Austria's 18th-century composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

But Leschanz is in the minority these days, and with the number of brands rising, the chocolate balls beloved by tourists and locals alike are often no longer even produced in Austria.

US food giant Mondelez, which owns one of the most recognisable brands, moved its production from the Austrian city of Salzburg, Mozart's birthplace, to Eastern Europe last month, reigniting a heated and long-running marketing debate.

"It’s a shame, because Mozart balls are an Austrian product," head confectioner and owner Wolfgang Leschanz, 75, told AFP.

At his firm, 10 time-honoured steps are required to make one single Mozartkugel, and about 20,000 of the delicacies are freshly made to order each year.

ONLY ONE 'ORIGINAL'

Invented by confectioner Paul Fuerst in Salzburg in 1890, the Mozartkugel became popular in Europe after winning a gold medal at a Paris food fair in 1905.