Rich in tradition, Ricola is a typical Swiss family-owned company, whose history stretches back to the 1920s. It was in 1924 that Emil Richterich bought a small bakery in the picturesque town of Laufen just outside Basel. The Bleile bakery specialized in confectionery made from sugar, and produced more than 100 specialties including “Fünfermocken”, a candy something like caramel which at that time cost just 5 Swiss centimes a piece and which was the quintessential boiled sweet for generations of Swiss children. Another specialty was “Hustenwohl”, a cough drop made from soothing herbs to ease sore throats and coughs.