Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Most Swiss media have picked up today on a story by wire service ATS about the changing chocolate bunny population in Switzerland. Holiday chocolates, including those for Easter, make up 4 percent of the 185,000 tons of chocolate Switzerland sells every year. Some 13-15 million Easter chocolate rabbits are produced as part of this.

Worldwide, some 80 million chocolate bunnies are sold annually.

Ironically, while stores go to great lengths to take the chocolate rabbits beyond their classic style (simple, ears up, looking off in the distance), Swiss consumers continue to be conservative buyers. The biggest sellers remains milk chocolate bunnies, 75 percent of the market, mostly not wearing footballs, sunglasses, clothes and all the other gear the marketing people like to add, according to the story carried by several media, including 20 Minutes (Fre).

Supermarket chain Migros alone has 67 chocolate bunnies on the market this year, nine of which are new. Lindt, maker of the classic gold foil wrapped rabbit, is banking on the unchanging tastes of generations.

Related: GenevaLunch blog, Easter time is chocolate time! on artisanal chocolate in the Lake Geneva region