They were first and then it has become a brand.<p>There is fantastic chocolate made being elsewhere. Lindt is good, but mass-market, not the benchmark.<p>I love Taza chocolate from America, for example. The non-conche one. Its crystalline texture is really nice.<p>(<a href="https://www.tazachocolate.com/pages/our-process" rel="nofollow">https://www.tazachocolate.com/pages/our-process</a>)
Wonder if its more than just brand. Eg.<a href="https://www.chobachoba.com/direct-from-our-farms/" rel="nofollow">https://www.chobachoba.com/direct-from-our-farms/</a>. They ship the ferment and dry the beans, but then it gets shipped to Switzerland to be made into chocolate.<p>Similarly Belgian chocolate (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_chocolate" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_chocolate</a>) has also developed into a brand.
Good chocolate is made from real ingredients: cocoa, cocoa-butter, sugar, plus real milk if making milk chocolate. The place where it is produced is irrelevant.<p>Poor chocolate is made by replacing some, if not all, of the real ingredients with cheaper substitutes.<p>Read the ingredients list on the back of the packet and learn what's in the good stuff and what's in the bad stuff. Then buy accordingly.