The Beginnings of the Lindt GOLD BUNNY

Dressed in gold, tied with red ribbon, marked with a bell: he created a bunny she could always find.

It all began with a little girl and a bunny

The story goes that one Easter the young daughter of a Lindt Maître Chocolatier spotted a bunny in the long grass as the family was having a traditional Easter brunch. Excitedly she asked if she could go outside to play with it. Her father consented but as she ran to the door, the bunny promptly vanished into the bushes with a single flash of its tail.

For days, she was heartbroken. Her father thought long and hard how he could cheer her up before alighting on the perfect idea. He decided to craft a bunny so she could always find her little friend: the Lindt GOLD BUNNY was born. Every year after that, his daughter looked forward to hunting for her little GOLD BUNNY in the garden with family.

With its golden coat and little bell tied with a red ribbon, the Lindt GOLD BUNNY shines, heralding spring and brightening any Easter spread.

A young girl with the Lindt gold bunny.
Melted chocolate bunny.

1952: Easter traditions then

Lindt’s first GOLD BUNNY was created in 1952. Thanks to Rodolphe Lindt and his conching machine, chocolate could be melted down smooth enough to coat moulds of any shape and create hollow chocolate figures. Figures just like the soft, indulgent melting chocolate Bunny, wrapped in its lovingly iconic golden foil with the red ribbon and the golden bell around its neck. Longstanding tradition made the chocolate bunnies an instant hit in Germany, but it took a while for them to hop across the border into Switzerland and Austria.

1990s: Hopping country lines

By 1994, just over four decades later, the Lindt GOLD BUNNY became available on Swiss and Austrian shelves, and in 1996, the GOLD BUNNY travelled overseas to Great Britain and the North America. In 1997, our GOLD BUNNY became available in Australia.

Gold bunny in a basket.
Gold bunny on a bed of flowers.

2000s: New decade, new travels

The Lindt GOLD BUNNY made it to Latin America for Easter in 2002 and hopped onwards to Russia and Hong Kong in 2004. After that, it was a hop, skip and a jump to the Near East where our GOLD BUNNY arrived in 2007. Today, approximately 150 million Lindt GOLD BUNNY are produced every year in over 50 countries around the world. If you were to line them up nose to tail, they would span the distance from our headquarters in Kilchberg, Switzerland to San Diego, California – that’s 9,800 kilometres!

Crafted from the heart

At Lindt each creation is crafted with precision and care. From start to finish, it takes about an hour to bring a chocolate bunny to life. After coating a mould with fine chocolate, our bunnies are left to cool at optimum temperature to attain the perfect sheen and a crisp snap.

Then, each bunny is wrapped in signature gold foil and polished by the gloved hands of our Lindt Maître Chocolatier. As a final loving touch, each Lindt GOLD BUNNY has a red ribbon and bell hand-placed around their necks.

Master chocolatier finishing a gold bunny.

Watch how the Lindt GOLD BUNNY is made

Peek behind the curtains of the Lindt GOLD BUNNY production and discover the secret to creating our sumptuous, sweet treat. Learn how he is expertly crafted and dressed in his signature golden coat. No matter if it is a 100g or 1kg GOLD BUNNY – all are treated with kindness and created with pride and passion.

Basket of chocolate eggs and bunnies.

For every occasion

Our Lindt GOLD BUNNY comes in six different sizes: 10g, 50g, 100g, 200g and 500g.

The smallest ones are perfect for decorating tables and Easter baskets, while our largest bunny is the ultimate showstopper. 

To suit every taste

Since the original milk chocolate GOLD BUNNY proved such a success, Lindt Maître Chocolatiers have conjured up three other flavours to choose from. The Lindt GOLD BUNNY is also available in dark, white and milk with hazelnut chocolate, signalled by ribbons in different colours. Look for white ribbons if you’re craving white chocolate, brown ribbons for the more robust flavour of dark chocolate and green for the added crunch of hazelnut.

Collection of dark, milk, hazelnut and white chocolate bunnies.
Two gold bunnies with leopard print.

Easter traditions today

The GOLD BUNNY today is recognisable the world over. Since its beginnings in 1952, the appearance of our Lindt GOLD BUNNY has weathered the years with grace, staying close to the original style. Sometimes, though, it’s nice to switch things up. In 2015, in addition to our iconic GOLD BUNNY, we released a special edition Lindt GOLD BUNNY wrapped in leopard and zebra print foil. These were followed by other limited-edition prints showcasing flowers. The Lindt Maître Chocolatiers are always thinking of new ways to surprise. What will be next?