Toblerone is making a change to its iconic packaging just two years after it was forced to remove the iconic Matterhorn mountain from its design.
In 2023, Toblerone removed the Swiss mountain from its packaging after moving some of the chocolate’s production from Switzerland to Bratislava, in Slovakia.
The change was made to comply with Switzerland’s ‘Swissness’ Act, which means national symbols and Swiss crosses are not allowed to be used to promote milk or dairy products that are not made exclusively in Switzerland.
However, Toblerone has now announced it is investing 65 million Swiss francs (£60 million) into its manufacturing plant in Bern, the country’s capital.
The company revealed that the Swiss flag would soon adorn the packaging of Toblerone chocolates made in the country, to emphasise the brand’s heritage.
‘Toblerone is one of the most famous chocolate brands in the world with tremendous potential,’ said Iain Livingston, president of Toblerone & World Travel Retail.
He added: ‘Our centre of excellence in Switzerland, from where we proudly bring our brand and chocolate expertise around the world, is key to the brand’s growth ambition to win in the premium segment.’
Tim Spickenbaum, director of the production facility in Bern, said: ‘Our plant has been a cornerstone of the Toblerone production for decades. Already today we manufacture on average 4 million Toblerone products per production day.
‘We are therefore delighted about the planned modernizations and investments, which will not only enhance our manufacturing capacity but also solidify Bern’s position as the home and heart of the triangular brand icon.’
Switzerland’s Swissness Act was passed in 2017, and specifies that food using Swiss national symbols or claiming to be ‘Swiss made’ must use at least 80% of its raw materials coming from Switzerland. This increases to 100% for milk and dairy products.
Other changes that were made to Toblerone’s packaging in 2023 included the removal of a bear rearing up on its hind legs, which was cleverly hidden inside the Matterhorn design.
The bear reportedly symbolised the Swiss city of Bern – known as the ‘city of bears’ – where the original manufacturing of the bars took place.
Additionally, the packaging was changed to read ‘established in Switzerland’, rather than ‘of Switzerland’.
Toblerone first went on sale in 1908 in Bern. The Bernese bear and the eagle were first to appear on its packaging, with the Matterhorn not added to its design until 1970.
Meanwhile, Toblerone’s signature triangular shape has been legally protected since 1909.
The shape of the chocolate bar was controversially changed in 2016 to space out the triangles and ‘keep costs down’ – but this was reverted back to the original design two years later.
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