This logo was what made Toblerone iconic throughout the world. See you real soon again, Matterhorn.
You’re probably aware of Toblerone. The Swiss chocolate bar with its iconic triangular-shaped bars with its name engraved onto them. These triangle chocolate bars are forever iconic to the name “Toblerone” and it’s based on Matterhorn Mountain in Switzerland. It surely is proud of its Swiss heritage that in every bar, the name of the bar will say “Toblerone of Switzerland”
However, sadly, the iconic mountain logo with the hidden bear would be removed from Toblerone bars starting next year because its current owner Mondelez decided that it is apparently best to move its production from Switzerland to Bratislava, Slovakia. Therefore, the Chocolate bars are no longer considered “Swiss”. So you might as well say goodbye to the subtitle “Of Switzerland” beneath it.
The chocolate bar is sold in over 100 countries, including the Philippines. Toblerone was conceptualized and named after its founder, Theodor Tobler, in Bern, Switzerland alongside Emil Baumann in 1908.
“For legal reasons, the changes we’re making to our manufacturing mean we need to adjust our packaging to comply with Swissness legislation. We have removed our Swissness claim from the front of the Toblerone pack and changed our description ‘of Switzerland’ to ‘established in’,” a Mondelez spokesperson told CNN.
Swiss heritage is something the country takes heavy pride in, so much so that products not made in Switzerland must have its icons and symbols that refer to and/or represent the country removed. This strict ruling is due to the Swissness Act which was passed in 2017. With Mondelez’s decision to move production to Slovakia, the bars are no longer purely Swiss.
Under the Swissness Act, food products claiming to be “Swiss-made” must have 80% of their raw materials to be made in Switzerland. This rule got stricter with dairy and milk products as 100% of raw materials must be sourced from the country. Processing must also be done in the country, with the exception of materials that do not occur in Switzerland, such as cocoa.
With that said, Mondelez has been forced to recreate its packaging with “a distinctive new Toblerone typeface and logo” which includes the signature of Theodor Tobler, the chocolate bar’s founder.
According to the government website, “Swiss-made” accounts for as much as 20% of the sale price for certain products, and as much as 50% for luxury items, making them more expensive than similar products from other countries. The aim of the Swiness Act is also to protect the value of the “Swiss-made” label.
By the way, this wasn’t the first time Toblerone got itself in hot waters due to political reasons. The first time was in 2016 which coincided with Brexit. During this time, Mondelez increased the gap size of the 170g and 400g bars. When the US company was asked why it did so, it confirmed that this was not due to Brexit but rather due to some ingredients used in the making of Toblerone have increased its prices, in other words, cost-cutting measures.
Source: CNN