In fact, snow in the middle of summer, although rare, still happens. However, the “snow” that fell on the streets of the small Swiss town of Olten, located between Zurich and Basel, quite surprised its residents.
It was not white crystals of snowflakes that fell from the sky, but … finely ground cocoa grains, of course, not white, but brown. It turned out that at the local Lindt & Spruengli chocolate factory there was a minor accident in the cooling ventilation system of the line where cocoa beans are roasted. The particles of these beans, called “nibs”, form the basis of the chocolate.
As luck would have it, the failure of the cooling ventilation coincided that morning with a strong wind, as a result of which small particles of cocoa powder scattered around the factory and covered the ground, trees, houses and even some cars parked in the area with a thick layer of brownish dust.
The company’s management assured the townspeople that the cocoa powder particles are completely harmless to both people and the environment, and even offered to compensate for all the costs of cleaning from the powder, including washing cars. But so far none of the residents of the city has demanded this compensation. Perhaps the dust cleaning seemed to the townspeople enough “sweet”, so no one wanted to demand money for it. And the ventilation system was quickly repaired, and the process of making chocolate bars resumed without delay.