Tokyo (SCCIJ) – Due to a new production line in the Swiss capital Bern, Toblerone has become once again a Swiss product, with the Swiss flag on the packaging marking its manufacture in Switzerland.
Strict rules for Swissness
When brand owner Mondelēz in 2023 moved most of the production of Toblerone to Slovakia, the pointed chocolate lost the right to use the Matterhorn logo, which also included a hidden bear, the heraldic symbol of the city of Bern, underlining twice its Swiss origin.
The reason: Strict Swiss rules introduced in 2017 restrict the use of national symbols like the flag or other elements of the Swiss territory in food, industry, or services to promote milk-based products that are not made exclusively in Switzerland. More precisely, products labeled “made in Switzerland” must contain at least 80% local ingredients, and 100% for those containing milk (except for non-endemic ingredients, such as cocoa).
As a result, Mondelēz had to replace the symbol for the 4,478-meter-high Swiss mountain with a more generic mountain peak, and the packaging indicated “established in Switzerland” instead of the previous formula “Toblerone of Switzerland”. The wording “Swiss milk chocolate” was deleted.
Production returns to Bern
But now, the brand owner has shifted most of the production of the iconic chocolate product back to Switzerland. In March, Swiss Federal President Guy Parmelin officially inaugurated a new production line in Bern. The plant now covers about 90 percent of global Toblerone demand. With the expansion of the Bern hub, the Swiss flag is displayed on the packaging of all products manufactured there to mark them as “Swiss” and “Swiss-made”. However, the Matterhorn logo with its hidden bear will not return.
“We have decided to use the Swiss flag—a universal and globally recognizable symbol of Switzerland—on the products we manufacture in Bern, rather than the Matterhorn. We also highlight our heritage with the words ‘Founded in Switzerland in 1908’,” told Vicky Kummer, spokesperson of Mondelēz Switzerland, the SCCIJ.
The new line completed a 65 million francs investment of Mondelēz that establishes Bern as the global Center of Excellence for the iconic Swiss chocolate brand. The investment expanded the production facilities for chocolate and nougat, as well as the capacity for mass production. It aims to accelerate the brand’s global growth ambition in the premium segment. Toblerone is exported from Switzerland to more than 120 countries.
“A piece of Swiss history”
Swiss President and Minister of Economic Affairs Guy Parmelin emphasized in his inauguration speech: “If there is one product that represents Switzerland worldwide, it is chocolate. And Toblerone has a very special place among Swiss chocolates. It is more than just chocolate. It is a piece of Swiss history. And a symbol of Swissness par excellence: identity and quality.”
“Toblerone” is a portmanteau of the word “Tobler”, the last name of its co-creator Theodor Tobler, and “Torrone”, the Italian name for honey-almond nougat. In 1985, a factory in Brünnen, a part of Bern, started producing Toblerone. Mondelēz acquired Toblerone in 2012 when the global snacks division of Kraft Foods was spun off into an independent company. Kraft Foods had originally bought the Swiss brand in 1990.
Text: Martin Fritz for SCCIJ with Mondelēz material
