Toblerone to remove iconic Matterhorn design on its packaging
Chocolate aficionados will immediately recognize the distinctive mountain image found on Toblerone packaging, but it may be time for them to get used to the packages not having them as the chocolate bar's maker will be removing it to comply with marketing restrictions related to Swiss iconography.
The Associated Press reports that Mondelez International, owner of the Swiss-born brand, has to remove the image of the Matterhorn along with the Swiss flag as a 2017 law passed in Switzerland requires at least four-fifths of the raw materials that go into a food product have to come from Switzerland, and the processing that gives a product its “essential characteristics” must be carried out in Switzerland. Because Mondelez is outsourcing the production of its 35 and 50 gram bars to Slovakian capital Bratislava, the company can no longer use these two symbols of Switzerland. The 100 gram bars will still be made in Switzerland and can still feature the iconography.
In an email to the Associated Press, Mondelez spokeswoman Livia Kolmitz said: “The redesign of the packaging introduces a modernized and streamlined mountain logo that is consistent with the geometric and triangular aesthetic.”
According to The Guardian, Toblerone packaging will now also say “established in Switzerland,” rather than “of Switzerland.”
The Guardian also notes that studies have shown that products with the “made in Switzerland” branding often result in that product being sold at 20 percent higher prices compared to other similar products. If the product is a luxury good, the mark-up can be as high as 50 percent.
The publication also took note of the “controversies” that Toblerone has been embroiled in since 2016, such as increasing the spaces between the triangular chocolate chunks being sold in the United Kingdom so that the weight could be reduced to 150 grams from 170 grams. The company also reduced the number of pieces from 15 to 11 in Germany a year later.
MEANWHILE, IF YOU WANT TO SEE A BIT OF SWITZERLAND YOURSELF, CHECK OUT THE GALLERY BELOW FROM
