An Iconic 115-Year-Old Chocolate Brand Is Forced to Change Its Look — Here's Why
The unique, peak-shaped chocolate bar was invented in 1908.
By Amanda Breen •
Toblerone, the peaked, Mondelez-owned chocolate bar made with honey and almond nougat, can no longer say it's Swiss-made.
As a result of Switzerland's Swissness Act, which passed in 2017 and prohibits national symbols and the Swiss cross from appearing on products that don't meet "Swissness" standards, Toblerone, which is moving some of its manufacturing to Slovakia, will lose its "Swiss" label and the Matterhorn outline on its packaging, CNN reported.
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Toblerone founder Jean Tobler opened the brand's first confectionery shop in Bern, Switzerland in 1868, per the chocolate maker's website. In 1908, Tobler's son Theodor and his cousin Emil Baumann discovered white nougat and invented the unique chocolate bar.
The Swissness Act requires food products to be produced with 80% of their raw materials sourced from Switzerland to be designated "Swiss-made," but that figure jumps to 100% for milk and dairy products.
"Essential processing" must also take place in the country, not including natural products that cannot be sourced there, like cocoa, per CNN.
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A spokesperson for the brand told the outlet that Mondelez's new packaging includes a "distinctive new Toblerone typeface and logo" and the signature of Theodor Tobler.
