The unmistakable silhouette of the most famous mountain in Switzerland, which for more than 50 years has identified Toblerone, will no longer appear on the packaging of the famous brand of triangular chocolates.
The reason is that despite being founded in 1899 by Jean Tobler in the Swiss capital, Bern, and offering chocolates in the shape of triangles that represent the iconic Mount Cervino (Matterhorn) since 1908, Toblerone can no longer say that its products are 100 % swiss.
It is as a result of the decision of the owners of the company, the American company Mondelez, to transfer part of the production to Slovakia.
And that directly clashes with the rules of the Swiss country that determine what is truly Swiss.
One of them establishes that it is not allowed to use national symbols to promote dairy products that are not exclusively manufactured in Switzerland, which is the case with chocolates.
The silhouette of Mount Matterhorn first appeared on Toblerone packaging in 1970. GETTY IMAGES
This measure will force Toblerone to modify its packaging to replace the image of the 4,478-meter-high alpine snow-capped mountain with a more generic summit, as confirmed by the US company to the BBC.
With Tobler’s signature
in the new packaging there will be “a distinctive new typeface and logo inspired by Toblerone’s history and the signature of our founder, Tobler.”
Mondelez also explained that it was moving some production out of the country to “respond to increased demand around the world and grow our brand for the future.”
Although Toblerone has been offering its famous mountain-shaped chocolate made from Swiss milk with honey and almond nougat for 115 years, it wasn’t until 1970 that it incorporated the silhouette of Mount Matterhorn on its packaging.
Until then he had used two symbols of the Swiss capital, the eagle and the bear of Bern, keeping the latter within the silhouette of Mount Matterhorn.
Mondelez stated that Berne was an “important part of our history and will continue to be so in the future”.
The Toblerone bar was offered with wider spaces between its signature triangles in 2016.
This is not the first time that Toblerone has been in the middle of a controversial decision.
In 2016, it changed the design of its chocolate bar to space out the triangular pieces in an attempt to reduce production costs.
However, and as a result of the many criticisms it received, the company returned to its original form two years later.
Remember that you can receive notifications from BBC Mundo. Download the new version of our app and activate them so you don’t miss out on our best content.
JM
Themes
Read Also
Get the latest news in your email
Everything you need to know to start your day
Registering implies accepting the Terms and Conditions
