Lindt & Sprüngli is changing captain in the middle of a storm. The board of directors of the Kilchberg (ZH) chocolate maker announced on Monday, before the stock market opened, the departure with immediate effect of its chief executive Adalbert Lechner, 65, after a 33-year career with the company. Michal Spiller, 48, head of Germany – the group's largest European market – is also leaving the company, after 23 years with the firm.
Operational management passes on an interim basis to Dieter Weisskopf, 71, Adalbert Lechner's predecessor as CEO and current vice-chairman of the board of directors. According to Allnews, the interim period is due to last until a permanent new boss arrives, hoped for in the second quarter of next year; PME mentions the beginning of next summer.
Reasons left half-said
The board did not publicly detail any specific grievances. Questioned at a press conference on Monday morning, Dieter Weisskopf merely stated that “trust was a decisive factor in this reshuffle”. The stated objective is to put the group back on the path of robust growth and to seize opportunities across all its markets. The exact reason for Michal Spiller's removal has not been specified.
The context, however, is well documented. Lindt & Sprüngli has lowered its sales target twice this year. Set at between 6 and 8% at the start of the year, expected growth had been cut to between 4 and 6% even before the end of the first quarter, then to a range from stagnation to +2% year on year, which still applies. The growth ambition has thus shrunk considerably in a few months.
Lindt runs up against the limits of its pricing strategy
At the heart of the problem lies pricing policy. The surge in cocoa prices was passed on to prices in 2025, which has since weighed on volumes sold, reports Allnews, while the price effect is now fading in the comparison base. According to PME, prices have risen by 40 to 50% across the entire range in recent years. For many consumers, mostly outside Switzerland, a line has been crossed: sales have dropped significantly this year, precisely in the European market.
“The company went too far with its price increases,” says Matthias Geissbühler, chief investment officer at Raiffeisen, quoted by PME. At the general meeting in April 2026, shareholders had already voiced concern about unsold Lindt products in German supermarkets. This summer the group shifted strategy, with selective price cuts and smaller packaging for well-known products, in order to lower the entry threshold for customers. Promotional campaigns and new product launches are to round out the plan.
The exercise remains tricky for a Swiss chocolate brand positioned at the top end of the market. “You can't cut prices too much, otherwise margins come under even more pressure and customers no longer perceive the products as premium,” sums up Matthias Geissbühler.
The stock market reacts without enthusiasm
The market did not welcome the change. At 12:34 on Monday, the Lindt & Sprüngli participation certificate was down 2.1% at 8,240 francs, bringing up the rear of an SLI down 0.39%, according to Allnews. The stock's decline is nothing new: the registered share, the most expensive in Switzerland, had reached an all-time high of nearly 135,000 francs in the summer of 2025. It now trades at around 86,000 francs, having lost some 20,000 francs since the April general meeting, PME reports.
For Matthias Geissbühler, this restraint is understandable: “As a member of the board of directors, Dieter Weisskopf supported the previous strategy. That is why the liberating boost on the stock market has yet to materialise. Adalbert Lechner is now the fuse that has to blow.”
Chairman Ernst Tanner under pressure
The shake-up also puts chairman Ernst Tanner, 80, at the centre of criticism. Head of the board of directors for 32 years, and CEO until 2016, he oversaw the transformation of Lindt & Sprüngli into a global giant of premium chocolate. But according to PME, a growing number of analysts are calling for fresh blood. “The board of directors should also be subject to review,” comments the bank Vontobel.
The readings converge on one point: the board apparently waited too long. Jean-Philippe Bertschy, an analyst at Zürcher Kantonalbank, considers the board of directors guilty of having waited too long to act and calls for changes as early as next spring. Opinions diverge more on what comes next. Experts at Jefferies question the cost of the announced promotional campaigns and fear that this investment in growth will constrain margins in the medium term. Matthias Geissbühler also expects margins to remain under pressure in the coming months, despite the change of management.
What awaits the new management
Part of the difficulty lies in the cost structure. Lindt & Sprüngli has massively expanded its own network of shops in recent years, which increases the fixed costs of the premium strategy. According to PME, the time has now come for cost cutting, and scrapping the staff ski weekend or the Christmas party will not be enough.
The sources do not specify at this stage whether measures affecting jobs are being considered, in Switzerland or elsewhere. For Dieter Weisskopf, the room for manoeuvre is narrow: revive volumes without further eroding the profitability or the upmarket image of the brand, until a successor arrives next year.
