Production of Czech Lentilky candy will move to Germany, recipe and packaging to change

After over a century, production of the popular hard-shelled chocolate candy Lentilky will move from the Czech Republic to Germany.

The candies have been produced in by candy company Sfinx in Holešov, a town in the Zlín region of Moravia, since 1907. Sfinx has been a subsidiary of Swiss-based food giant Nestlé since 1992.

Starting in April 2021, production will move production to Hamburg, Germany. The move was first reported by Czech Radio – Radiožurnál, and later confirmed by Nestlé Česko spokesman Robert Kičina.

The reason for the move is to align the recipe for Lentilky with the similar Nestlé-owned candy Smarties, which is sold in other countries except for the United States. (In the US, the brand name Smarties is owned by Smarties Candy Company and applies to a sugar-based non-chocolate tablet candy.)

The new recipe for Lentilky will have less sugar and more milk and chocolate, and also used certified cocoa. The hard shell will now contain gluten. The new packaging also will not use plastic.

“The factory in Hamburg will take over the production of Lentilky from April 2021. The operators who are now involved in the production of Lentilky will be moved to other production lines and workshops at the Sfinx plant,” Nestlé’s Kičina said, according to media reports. The Sfinx factory also produces the candies Jojo, Bon Pari, Hashlerky, Anticol and Toffo.

Harmonization of the recipe with our Smarties brand was decided based on results of consumer tests, which found them equally acceptable, according to Kičina.

Moving production will reduce the maintenance costs for the production technologies and better utilize factory capacities in Hamburg, which are sufficient for production and distribution of Smarties and Lentilky to all European Union members.

The Hamburg plant also has the technology to put Lentilky into paper packaging, which will contribute to fulfilling Nestlé's commitments to reduce plastic waste, Kičina said. Some of the current Lentilky packages, such as the larger tubes, have plastic caps.

Packaging of the best-selling 28 gram paper cartons of Lentilky will continue to take place at the Sfinx factory.

Lentilky were first made by the brothers Philipp and Rudolf Kneisl in Holešov in 1907. Their name comes from the Latin word lenticula, which means lentils. The brand name was later registered by Philipp Kneisl and the factory was then renamed to Sfinx. Every day the factory produces almost 6 million Lentils in seven colors, according to the company website.

At the end of last year, about 400 people worked in the Holešov plant. More than half of its production consists of jelly products, which are sold on the domestic market mainly under the Jojo brand.  

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