Toblerone to give up its triangle design under 'Swissness rule'

Bern: After some of the manufacturing of the Toblerone chocolate bar is moved outside of Switzerland, the image of the Matterhorn mountain peak will be removed from the Toblerone packaging because it violates marketing laws regarding the use of Swiss iconography.

According to Mondelez, the owner of the US-based candy company, the 4,478-meter-high (14,690-foot) mountain, whose nearly symmetrical pyramidal top resembles the shape of the almond-and-honey-laced chocolate bar, will be replaced with a more generic Alpine summit.

According to a Mondelez representative, “the packaging redesign brings a modernised and streamlined mountain logo that corresponds with the geometric and triangular aesthetic,” Aargauer Zeitung. “Established in Switzerland” rather than “of Switzerland” will now appear on Toblerone containers.

The use of the white cross on a red background of the national flag and other signs of Swiss provenance in foods, industrial goods, and services are restricted under “Swissness” legislation that was implemented in 2017.

In order for culinary products to claim to be “made in Switzerland,” at least 80% of the raw materials and most of the processing must come from that nation. The necessary quota is 100% for milk and milk-based products, with the exception of cocoa, which cannot be sourced from Switzerland.

According to studies, some products marked “made in Switzerland” are offered for 20% more than similar products
from other countries, and the price increase for luxury goods can reach 50%.

Since 1908, Toblerone has been made in Berne, the city of Switzerland, whose ursine heraldic animal is concealed inside the packaging’s depiction of the Matterhorn. The name of the treat is a combination of Theodor Tobler’s last name and torrone, a toasted-almond nougat delight popular during the holiday season in south-western Europe.

In order to offer the snack at the same price with a weight reduction from 170g to 150g, Toblerone allegedly increased the gaps between the triangular chocolate chunks on bars distributed in the UK in 2016. The weight of

Toblerone bars distributed in Germany was also decreased by Mondelez a year later, from 15 triangular peaks to 11.
Such “controversies” ensured Toblerone a run of free advertising, with sales allegedly increasing despite purported customer outrage. In 2018, the bar’s natural shape was restored.

Since 2012, Mondelez, the company that currently owns Toblerone, has also produced Milka chocolate, a brand that was initially created in Switzerland, and last year it announced plans to move some of that production to Slovakia starting at the end of 2023.

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