Schluckwerder

Schluckwerder is one the world’s largest specialty factories for marzipan products. Using only natural ingredients, Schluckwerder produces the highest quality marzipan. While many people remember marzipan as an overly sweet children’s confection, Schluckwerder marzipan is not so. Instead of a too-sweet marzipan, Schluckwerder produces a German marzipan. This is an important distinction, as Germany is one of the only places with its own marzipan laws. The law sets a minimum amount of almond content, which then implicitly holds all marzipan made in Germany to a high standard. This prevents the production of any sickly-sweet marzipan.

With a focus on the production of specialty marzipan for Easter and Christmas, Schluckwerder is constantly looking for ways to improve. Recently, Schluckwerder has invested in new production methods and are aggressively investing in their own business. This is all in effort to rise to the top of their niche market.

Marzipan at Schluckwerder’s three factories is made using a three-step process. First, the almonds are boiled and stripped of their skin. Then, they are grated and mixed with sugar. This creates a substance that is called “raw mass.” The raw mass is then mixed with sugar without heat. Finally, the marzipan is then shaped into loaves. The chocolate used to cover the marzipan is of the highest quality and contains no vegetable fats—only cocoa butter and cocoa mass. The Schluckwerder marzipan contains no preservatives or alcohols.

In 1845, Carstens was founded. Carstens specialized in canned vegetables and fruit fillings. Separately, in 1866 Erasmi was founded, which focused on industrial production of marzipan. These two companies combined in 1928 and streamlined focus into marzipan products. Production continued and was successful. In 1978, the company was taken over by the Oetker trust. Then, it was taken over by Horst Schluckwerder in 1995. Rolf Schluckwerder is the current owner of Schluckwerder, which remains a medium-sized family-owned company. Each year, they produce about 10,000 tons of product. Today, while Schluckwerder is known for its exquisite marzipan, it also produces high quality pralines and rum balls.