Swiss chocolatier Läderach opens 3 Long Island locations

Shopping at the malls just got sweeter — literally.

Swiss chocolatier Läderach (pronounced lae-der-ackh) has opened its first three local locations, replacing Godiva Chocolatier at Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City, Walt Whitman Shops in Huntington Station and Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove.

The shops have more than 85 artisanal chocolates, plus a counter where customers can get hand-broken, custom-size pieces of chocolate bark.

Break chocolate in flavors including chocolate strawberry-quark (strawberry slices in white chocolate), pistachio dark (roasted pistachios in dark chocolate), confetti (colorful chocolate drops in milk chocolate), and its top seller, hazelnut milk (roasted and caramelized Piedmont hazelnuts in milk chocolate). Prices start at $11.90 per pound.

Its product line also includes a delicate selection of tablets (chocolate bars), pralines and truffles, some of which include alcohol. Läderach also tosses its chocolate onto popcorn, offering it in milk, caramel and strawberry flavors.

Nathanael Hausmann, the company's president, said Läderach was expanding to Long Island brick-and-mortar shops after seeing strong interest from the region in its online sales.

Läderach was launched in 1962 by Rudolf Läderach Jr. in Glarus, Switzerland. From its inception, the company has maintained complete control of the chocolate-making process, from harvesting cocoa straight to its creations.The Läderach family is in its third generation of operating the company, which has more than 100 stores worldwide, including two Manhattan locations.

Läderach is at 630 Old Country Rd. in Garden City (main level near Bloomingdales); 160 Walt Whitman Rd. in Huntington Station (between Brooks Brothers and Sunglass Hut); and 313 Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove (in the food court by Zales). More info: us.laderach.com