Mozart Distillerie GmbH (established 1954) of Salzburg, Austria, is a maker of chocolate liqueurs. The firm was previously known as H.C. König and Harald König is the Chief Executive and President.[1]
The firm has successfully developed a brand based around Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was born in Salzburg, which emphasises the blending of different elements that make up a liqueur in a similar way to the different parts of a work of music. The firm claims that the Andante from Mozart's String Quartet No. 2 in D major, K. 155 (K. 134a) is played into each batch approximately 380 times (during a 24-hour period) as part of the manufacturing process, which they describe as "soundmilling".[2] [3] [4] In addition, ultrasound is used in order to pulverise the cocoa and achieve a smoother consistency in the finished product.[2]
Distinctive packaging has been developed using short, round, shiny, foil-covered bottles that contrast with the tall bottles often used for alcoholic beverages and enable the liqueur to be double-stacked on the shelf in a retail outlet, allowing more product to be displayed in the same shelf space.[2]
In 2008, Suntory Limited, part of the Suntory Group,[5] acquired 50% of Mozart Distillerie GmbH from Bevipar AG, König Vermögens-Verwaltungs- Gesellschaft mbH and Dkfm Harald König[6] at a price of one billion Yen in order to expand its portfolio of premium alcoholic beverage brands. Suntory had imported Mozart Distillerie products into Japan since 1990[7] under an agency contract with the Austrian company.[8] It has partnerships with more than 40 companies and uses its powerful distribution network to sell more than 70 brands of western spirits into "emerging" markets like India and China.[9] The deal allowed Mozart Distillerie to expand its sales outside the European market.
Mozart Distillerie produces a wide range of chocolate liqueurs, including Mozart Gold Chocolate Cream, Mozart White Chocolate Cream, Mozart Black Dark, Mozart Dry Chocolate Spirit and most recently in 2013, Mozart R.G. Chocolate Cream.[10]
Harald König is the Chief Executive and President. Florian F. Iro is the managing director, and Dietmar Fadinger is the master distiller and master chocolatier.