Lindt EXCELLENCE 85% Dark Chocolate from Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG - intense cocoa bar with a loyal fan base

Reviewed: ad hoc news New Release & Launch desk. Edited and checked on 2026-06-23, 23:08. Details in the imprint.

The Lindt EXCELLENCE 85% Dark Chocolate bar looks almost velvety-black when you break off a square and hear the clean snap under your fingers. The thin tablet melts slowly on the tongue, revealing roasted cocoa notes rather than a sugar rush. It is the bar Lindt uses to speak directly to dark-chocolate purists.

What defines this bar

At its core, Lindt EXCELLENCE 85% Dark Chocolate is a 100 g tablet with at least 85 percent cocoa solids and just a few supporting ingredients like sugar, cocoa butter and natural vanilla flavor. According to Lindt, the cocoa beans are roasted and ground to a fine texture to keep the mouthfeel smooth, despite the low sugar content.

The format is deliberately slim and segmented into narrow squares, so chocolate fans can dose the intensity in small bites. On the official Lindt product page, the company highlights notes of rich cocoa, dried fruit and a hint of tobacco, positioning this bar almost like a dark-roast coffee for the chocolate shelf.

How it tastes in everyday life

Open the foil and there is an immediate hit of cocoa powder aroma, almost like sticking your nose into a bag of freshly ground beans. The texture, once on the tongue, is surprisingly smooth for 85 percent and avoids the chalky crumble some high-cocoa bars develop.

Because of the slim squares, many fans treat EXCELLENCE 85% Dark Chocolate more like a tasting board than a quick snack, pairing two or three pieces with an espresso or a glass of red wine. Swiss chocolatier and Lindt Master Chocolatier Ann Czaja has repeatedly pointed to this bar as a base for pairing workshops, as it makes the step up from milk to dark chocolate less abrupt for newcomers.

Place in Lindt's premium strategy

Lindt CEO Adalbert Lechner has emphasized in recent presentations that the EXCELLENCE line is a core component of the group’s premium strategy, especially for dark chocolate growth in Europe and North America. The 85 percent variant plays a flagship role within that range, acting as a stepping stone into even higher cocoa contents like 90 percent and 99 percent.

For retailers, the product is easy to place: the packaging is tall and white, with the dark tablet photo and bold "85%" typography standing out on crowded shelves. In Germany and many European markets, the bar sits in the mid-price premium segment, positioned clearly above supermarket private labels but within reach for regular weekly purchases.

Nutritional profile and portion control

From a nutritional perspective, EXCELLENCE 85% Dark Chocolate leans heavily toward fat and fiber rather than carbohydrates, simply because of the low sugar content. Lindt lists typical values per 100 g of around 2300 kJ and more than 40 g of fat, with a significantly lower sugar value than conventional milk chocolate.

For everyday use, that means the bar is potent in both taste and calories. Many customers therefore use one or two small squares as an after-dinner treat rather than a whole-row snack, which aligns with Lindt’s own recommendation of enjoying intense dark chocolate in small, mindful portions.

Packaging, sustainability and availability

The packaging combines a cardboard outer shell with a foil inner wrap that protects the tablet from moisture and odors. Lindt communicates its cocoa sourcing program and commitments, such as the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program, primarily at corporate level rather than on this single bar, but it still steers consumers toward sustainable sourcing claims for the range.

In practice, shoppers in Germany can find EXCELLENCE 85% Dark Chocolate in supermarkets, drugstores and online shops, often next to the 70 percent and 90 percent variants. The bar also features prominently in Lindt’s own flagship stores and at destinations such as the Lindt Home of Chocolate in Kilchberg, where visitors pass towering walls of EXCELLENCE tablets after the museum tour.

Where retail investors come in

For Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG, the EXCELLENCE 85% Dark Chocolate bar is one of many premium products that support pricing power and brand perception among dark-chocolate fans. Lindt & Sprüngli shares (ISIN CH0010570759) trade on SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich in Swiss francs, with current price data supplied by the exchange and major data vendors.

This article was AI-assisted and editorially reviewed. Product information without guarantee; prices and availability may change at short notice. No investment advice, no buy or sell recommendation. Stock-market transactions involve risks up to total loss.