Before chocolate can be shaped or moulded, it must go through a process of pre-crystallisation. Temperature control and mechanical movement play a crucial role in this. The liquid mass is first cooled down, under intensive agitation, along a precisely specified temperature curve. It is then warmed up again to a processing temperature of 28-32°C (this procedure is also known as “tempering”). It is only in this way that a consistent, fine-crystalline, heat-stable structure of the cocoa butter’s fat crystals can be properly achieved during the cooling of the moulded products. These stable fat crystals are responsible for the chocolate's glossy surface, its good clean snap when broken, and that it possesses the correct melting qualities: altogether producing the perfect taste.

A so-called moulding machine is used to make moulded chocolate bars. Pre-crystallised chocolate flows into a heated agitator that has a metering device - a so-called casting machine. From this, the mass is filled into 24-26°C plastic moulds, which travel on a conveyor chain under the machine. After filling, the moulds are shaken to evenly distribute the chocolate and remove air bubbles, after which the conveyor chain transports them onwards to cooling. This takes place in a cooling tunnel, where the moulds pass through a large air circulated refrigerator. This is done with the help of the conveyor chain (or a kind of paternoster lift system).

To produce storable products, the chocolate may not be cooled to beneath 14°C. Because chocolate shrinks during solidification it can easily be removed from its mould at the end of the cooling process. To do this, the mould containing the cooled chocolate is upturned. Upturning the mould and tapping the rear-side of the finished chocolate bar causes it to fall onto a conveyor belt, which transports it to a packaging machine.

Bars containing solid ingredients like, for example, whole or chopped nuts, almonds, or raisins, are manufactured in the same way. The solid ingredients are either mixed into the chocolate before it is poured into moulds or put in after the pouring process. In order to avoid the formation of hairline-cracks and ‘blooms’, it is important to warm up the irregularly shaped extra ingredients to approximately the same temperature as the chocolate mass. In order to avoid stress points, chocolates with extra ingredients must also be very carefully cooled.

The production of filled chocolates is yet more complicated: for this, special hollow figure moulding machines are necessary. There are three different production methods: the centrifugal moulding process, cold stamping, and the one shot system. RITTER SPORT filled chocolates are manufactured using the centrifugal moulding process.

Centrifugal moulding process
In the centrifugal moulding process, pre-crystallised chocolate is injected into plastic moulds that are then spun. A thin chocolate layer remains in the mould, while the surplus chocolate drips off. This is called a shell, which now cools in the mould. The then hard shell is lightly warmed and filled with the filling to just short of the brim. So that the filling is evenly distributed and that air cavities are removed, the whole thing is shaken. If necessary, solid ingredients can also be added, e.g. nuts or pieces of fruit, with the aid of special insertion systems. After the filling has cooled, the chocolate’s rim is warmed and the chocolate's cover, or base, is poured on. The correct product weight is achieved through the precise removal of any surplus chocolate. Then the final cooling of the finished chocolate bar takes place.

Cold stamping
Cold stamping means that a precisely calculated quantity of chocolate is poured into a mould. To mould chocolate shells, chocolate is injected into a mould and an approx. -22°C stamp is pressed therein. This evenly distributes the chocolate throughout the mould and cools it. Once the formed shell is stable, the stamp is removed. This is how an evenly moulded chocolate shell is created, one that is suitable for a problem-free insertion of filling.

The one shot system
A system in the confectionary industry known as “one shot” achieves the covering and filling of pralines or filled bars at the same time and in one processing step. The chocolate and filling are both poured at the same time by two concentrically arranged nozzles. Chocolate flows through the outer concentric nozzle while the filling flows through the inner. This saves time, space, and energy. However, it is only suitable for fillings whose flow properties do not deviate far from those of chocolate and which do not contain large, solid components. Cooling must also be slower and more carefully handled than with the traditional process. Otherwise, the chocolate can burst, the bottom bulge, or hairline cracks can develop.

The numerous different shapes of filled and solid articles range from pralines, to small pieces of chocolate, to large bars. There are also other moulding methods, such as the hollow figure process (used, for example, for Easter rabbits), or the covering process (used, for example, for chocolate bars). Except for our unique RITTER SPORT Rum Crispy Praline, which is produced using a covering process, RITTER SPORT pralines, hollow figures, and long bars have been absent from our range since 1960. This is in order to concentrate on one shape, that right up to today is, “QUALITY. CHOCOLATE. SQUARED.“