Ricola Ltd./Ricola AG is a Swiss manufacturer of cough drops, instant tea, tea bags, and breath mints. The head office of Ricola is located in Laufen, Basel-Country, and has subsidiaries in Italy, Great Britain, Asia, and the United States. According to the company, it exports to around 45 countries in Europe, Asia, and North America.
Business Ricola is a family business owned by the Richterich family; the Chairman of the Board of Directors is Felix Richterich. At the end of November 2011, he also took over the position of managing director until he was replaced by Thomas P. Meier in May 2019. Since then, the operational management of Ricola Group AG has been entirely in the hands of executives who do not belong to the owning family. From 2014 to the end of 2018, Eva Richterich, daughter of Alfred Richterich, was Vice President of the Board of Directors of Ricola. Eva Richterich left the Board of Directors at the end of 2018 when she joined the management of Ricola Group AG. At the end of 2020, Eva Richterich left Group Management and devoted herself to her strategic role as a member of the Board of Directors of Ricola Familienholding AG. After several years in operational management, Raphael Richterich, son of Felix Richterich and representative of the fourth generation of the family, was elected to the Board of Directors of Ricola Group AG in 2018, becoming Vice President in 2019. Ricola is a member of the Interessengemeinschaft Tee, Gewürze und verwandte Produkte (Interest Group for Tea, Spices, and Related Products; IGTG). Ricola listed sales of 307.2 million Swiss francs in 2016 and employs 400 workers. Around 200 independent production companies in the surrounding area service Ricola. In order to obtain enough herbs for the production of its herbal drops, the firm contracts over 100 self-managed farms in the Valais, Emmental, Val Poschiavo and at the southern foot of the Jura Mountains, in central Switzerland, and in Ticino. Ricola is known for its commercials featuring Heidi (Ramona Pringle) depicting mountaineers shouting "Ri-co-la!" and blowing through a large Alphorn. A class action suit in February 2019 alleged non-natural ingredients (malic acid, aspartame, citric acid, sorbitol, ascorbic acid, sodium ascorbate) while labels say "Naturally Soothing" or "Naturally Helps Support Immune System". In November 2019 the judge dismissed two claims and let two claims proceed. An earlier class action suit in November 2015 alleged industrially synthesized ingredients were used (ascorbic acid, citric acid, and malic acid) while labels stated "Naturally Soothing". The suit was withdrawn without explanation in January 2016.
History Ricola began in 1930 when master baker Emil Wilhelm Richterich and Daniel Ruoss Sr. established Confiseriefabrik Richterich & Co. Laufen after the purchase of a small bakery in his birthplace Laufen, just outside Basel. Under Richterich, the bakery specialized in confectionery such as Fünfermocken, a sweet similar to caramel. In 1940 Richterich experimented with the healing power of herbs and created Ricola's Swiss Herbal Sweet incorporating a blend of 13 herbs, which remains almost unchanged today. In the 1950s the sweet became appreciated for its ability to be dissolved in boiling water, creating an aromatic herbal tea or tisane, which inspired Richterich to create a Ricola Herbal Tea a few years later. In 1967, Emil Richterich and his sons Hans Peter and Alfred renamed the company Ricola, an abbreviation of Richterich & Compagnie Laufen. Export began in the 1970s, introducing Ricola's products to foreign markets in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States. At the end of the decade, Ricola moved to a new purpose-built factory in the vicinity of Laufen, where its headquarters are still located. In 1976, after extensive research on sugar-free confectionery, Ricola launched Switzerland’s first chewable sugarless herbal sweet. Ricola first started to advertise its products on television in the 1980s, an era that saw increased awareness of the need for good dental hygiene, increasing the demand for sugar-free products such as the ones that Ricola offered. In 1985, the cooperation with Swiss farmers for the natural cultivation of herbs according to Bio Suisse standards began. The Klosterfrau Healthcare Group has been responsible for the distribution of Ricola products in Germany since 1987. In 1988 the company started packaging their products in small boxes. In 2019, sales in Germany switched to CFP Brands, a joint venture in which Ricola participated. In 1993, the confectionery producer Disch from Othmarsingen was taken over, which was sold to the investment company Alrupa Finanz Holding in 2015. Disch produces the brands Sportmint and Mocken, which belong to Ricola. In 2006, the company put a state-of-the-art candy factory into operation in Laufen and in 2014 the new Kräuterzentrum production building was put into operation at the same location. It is made of clay and is the largest clay house in Europe. The construction was developed by the Austrian ceramist and clay building pioneer Martin Rauch, the architects were Herzog & de Meuron. In 2022, the company opened the first Ricola shop in Paris, where customers can also create their own sweets. In March 2023, the company opened its Ricola shop in Laufen, Switzerland. In 2023, Ricola and IP-SUISSE agreed on a long-term partnership for the sustainable cultivation of sugar beets to produce 25,000 tons of sugar annually without the use of fungicides, insecticides, and herbicides. In December 2023, Ricola was certified as a B Corporation by the non-profit organisation B Lab. The company is now managed by Thomas P. Meier as CEO and Felix Richterich as President of the Board. Today, Ricola exports to over 50 countries in Asia, North America and Europe.
Ingredients
While the active ingredient in most Ricola products is menthol, an important part of Ricola products is the herb mixture. The following herbs are noted as being part of Ricola's classic blend of 13 herbs:
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