Toblerone, one of the world’s most iconic chocolate bars, is set to remove the Matterhorn mountain peak from its iconic triangular packaging. This is due to some of the production of the chocolate being moved outside of Switzerland, potentially violating Swissness legislation. The legislation dictates that products using national images are only allowed to be made inside the country.
The Matterhorn peak, which stands 4,478 metres high, has been featured on the Toblerone packaging since its launch. It was chosen as a symbol of the Swiss Alps, where the chocolate originated. It is also known as one of Switzerland’s most iconic symbols and is a popular tourist destination.
Mondelez recently announced, effective at the end of this year, production of Toblerone will be shifted to its plant in Slovakia. As a result, the wrapper for the product will now read “Established in Switzerland” instead of “Of Switzerland”.
The company, in a statement to the BBC, declared the relocation outside of Switzerland was a response to the growing demand globally, and to promote the Toblerone brand in the future.
Since 2017, when the Swissness Act was introduced, the use of Swiss national symbols and crosses to promote milk-based products not made exclusively in Switzerland has been prohibited.
For other non-dairy foodstuffs that claim to be Swiss made or use a Swiss national symbol on their packaging, at least 80% of the raw materials must be sourced from Switzerland.
