(Geneva) The most emblematic of the Swiss mountains, the Matterhorn, is gradually disappearing from Toblerone packaging to comply with the requirements of the Swiss appellation, said the owner of the prism-shaped nougat chocolate bar.
Created in 1908 in the Tobler family factory, Toblerone has so far only been produced in Bern, the capital of the Alpine nation.
But from the fall, the famous chocolate bar will also be produced in Bratislava, Slovakia, “to meet the increase in global demand”, said a spokeswoman for the American food giant Mondelez International.
This partial relocation obliges the brand to remove the “of Switzerland” which was enthroned just below the brand on the packaging to meet the requirements of the “Swissness” legislation adopted in 2017 to protect products made in Switzerland, Mondelez had already revealed in June last year.
But the Matterhorn is also replaced by a stylized and generic mountain, which has not failed to spark a debate in Switzerland.
“We have to adapt our packaging to Swissness legislation,” a spokeswoman for Mondelez told AFP.
“The packaging redesign introduces a modernized and simplified mountain logo, consistent with the geometric aesthetic and the ‘be more triangle’,” she says.
The new design – which however keeps the silhouette of the bear symbol of Bern inscribed on the side of the mountain – began to be deployed since autumn last year.
Toblerone produces seven billion of its famous chocolate bars a year, 97% of which are exported to 120 countries.
The name is a pun on Tobler and “torrone” – the Italian name for honey almond nougat.
Is this commercial suicide? wondered the daily Geneva Grandstand. No, answers Michael Kamm, boss of the communication agency Trio, in the newspaper. For him, the brand is “very well established apart from its logo”.
Olivier Furrer, professor of marketing at the University of Fribourg, judges that this is a problem of Switzerland: “The Matterhorn is especially important for Swiss consumers, because it is a matter of pride”, but if the Swiss can be upset, it is not sure that foreigners will notice the difference, reports the daily.
