The Swiss Colony Review: Dessert Delivery

The Swiss Colony, established in 1926, is a mail-order company specializing in gourmet foods and gifts. Known for its wide range of products, including cheese, meats, chocolates, and baked goods, the company offers a variety of options for holidays and special occasions. Operating out of Monroe, Wisconsin, The Swiss Colony has long been recognized for its signature gift boxes and assortments, which are delivered across the United States. The company also provides financing options through its credit account, making it accessible for a range of customers (especially businesses that use The Swiss Colony, and its related brands like The Wisconsin Cheeseman, for its holiday gift-giving needs).

About 40 desserts to choose from

The Swiss Colony doesn't have hundreds of treats on offer: just under 40, actually. And, many of those are small cake squares or cheesecakes, most of which are going to be seasonally- or holiday-themed. You likely won't find anything over $130, and there are some wallet-friendly options even priced under $10 (but those will typically be the clearance section of the most recently-passed season). We do think that some of the sweet shops on our list could take a page out of The Swiss Colony's book (or catalog?) when it comes to user-friendliness: there are tons of filters you can use, like price, flavor occasions, and sale items. Many rival dessert retailers make you sift through hundreds of options without any filters, so points to The Swiss Colony there.

Many desserts have customer ratings

Depending on which desserts catch your eye, you might have a lot of customer reviews to consider - or none at all. For example, the Caramel Apple Cheesecake, priced at $59.99 and on sale for $10 less during our visit, had nearly 1,600 ratings averaging 4.1 out of 5 stars. Sounds like a winner. Shoppers are a little less enthusiastic about the Miniature Baklava ($29.99 to $39.99 on sale), with an average of just 3.8 stars spanning 2,300+ ratings. And, when you look at the various flavors of Celebration Cakes (think petit fours), they might have been too new for much buzz: some flavors had no reviews, and others had a dozen or less (and they ranged from 1-5 stars). But, on the whole, it's typically pretty easy to see what people think about the desserts they got from The Swiss Colony, and most treats come in with at least 4 stars.

Shipping fees of at least $11.99

Just watch out for shipping costs. While The Swiss Colony occasionally offers free shipping as a promo deal, you're typically going to see charges around $11.99 for your order - even if you're only ordering a Chocolate Dobosh Torte for $21.99. Do the math and you'll see that's about 50% of the product price: pretty steep, in our opinion.

Lots of unhappy customers lately

Unfortunately, despite having an "A+" rating from the Better Business Bureau, The Swiss Colony hasn't received much positive feedback lately. As we scrolled through comments left on Trustpilot and other third-party sites within a month or two of this evaluation, they were all negative - and a not-insignificant number of those complaints were from repeat, long-term customers who were really disappointed with their most recent experiences. Most of the woes reported were related to ordering and shipping snafus, but product quality is being questioned as well.

Real customer experiences

One disgruntled shopper said that they received a cake that was past the "fresh by" date - but The Swiss Colony only offered a 10% refund. As they put it, "nineteen years of being a loyal, happy customer down the drain because they dropped the ball." Others frequently mentioned that they were disappointed by the product size, saying that they were led to believe the food they were getting was much larger in size than it turned out to be. One product was described as looking like it was made for toddlers, the portions were so small. The Swiss Colony says that "your complete satisfaction is guaranteed", but we're not seeing that in the rants from their still-unsatisfied customers.

Not our favorite for desserts

For all of these reasons, The Swiss Colony earns a lower-than-average ranking among the dessert retailers in our evaluation. The selection of sweets isn't the most awe-inspiring, and we're not thrilled with shopper feedback on third-party platforms like the BBB and Trustpilot. But, if you stick to the desserts with lots of higher ratings, and you speak up assertively with customer support if something goes awry, you might be okay buying your treats here. Just give The Swiss Colony's higher-rated competition a look before you do.

Learn More  ➜

On the The Swiss Colony website