LETTER FROM VIENNA
What tourist passing through the Austrian capital has not left with his package? With its heart of marzipan surrounded by nougat, all coated with chocolate, the Mozartkugeln – translatable into French by the unsightly “Mozart ball” – is probably Austria’s most famous candy, along with the Manner, this wafer hazelnut and chocolate a little too dry. Originally from Salzburg, the city of Mozart, it can be found all over the country, starting with Vienna Airport, where it’s the best last-minute gift for travelers in a hurry.
But, at the height of these 130 years, the Mozartkugeln is going through an unprecedented crisis. This is called Covid-19. On November 29, Austria’s largest manufacturer of Mozart balls, the Salzburg Schokolade factory in Grödig, south of the city, went bankrupt. In a letter sent to his 140 employees, the boss, Christian Schügerl, highlights the epidemic and “The massive drop in the number of tourists, events and celebrations such as birthday and wedding parties” to explain a drop in demand for these chocolates usually produced to 90 million units per year and exported all over the world.
According to documents presented to the commercial court, turnover plunged from nearly 30 million euros in 2019 to just over 20 million in 2020. “And we were only able to partially compensate this year for this significant drop due to the Covid pandemic”, notes the boss. Without counting, he adds, in the brief and only press release sent to the press before refusing the interview requests, “The considerable increases in the costs of raw materials, packaging materials, energy, wages, logistics costs…”.
Save “the most famous ball in the world”
Mozart’s ball suffers from its main success: tourism. In a country which decided to impose a new lockdown in November, visitors have deserted, even though the winter season is crucial for both the ski slopes and the famous Vienna Christmas markets, where the Mozartkugeln are a of the main products of appeal on the stalls. These have reopened since December 13, but with a mandatory vaccination pass and a gloomy atmosphere. Attendance is far from being at the rendezvous and many hotels in the capital have not even bothered to reopen for the holidays. “We barely have between a third and a quarter of 2019 customers”, also complained Matthias Winkler, owner of the famous Sacher cafes, known for their chocolate cakes, also popular with tourists.
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