Why Toblerone drops a famous Swiss mountain out of its pack?

Toblerone chocolate will no longer display the distinctive Matterhorn peak on its packaging to avoid violating Swiss law protecting national symbols, the brand owner moving some production outside of Switzerland.

Mondelez International, the American manufacturer of Toblerone, said in a statement that it had to adapt its packaging to comply with Swiss law, and that it was making changes to its production to meet growing demand. The company will use a new mountain logo that retains a “geometric and triangular aesthetic,” a spokeswoman said, adding that production of Toblerone bars will continue in Switzerland as well.

The packaging was changed It was reported earlier by the Swiss newspaper Arguer Zeitungwhich said Mondelez would start some production in Slovakia in July.

under “sausrahNational symbols can only be used to promote chocolate when the milk it contains is sourced exclusively from Switzerland, plus 80 percent of all other raw materials as well. For milk-based products, processing and manufacturing must also take place in Switzerland, according to the law – the latest A version of it went into effect in 2017. There are exceptions for products like cocoa, which is grown in humid climates.

David Stärkle, who oversees enforcement of Swissness legislation for the Swiss government, said it would be misleading for Toblerone to continue to include an image of the Matterhorn, the symbol of Switzerland, on its packaging when some of its production was taking place abroad. Country.

The point of the law, he said, was for consumers to know that when they bought Swiss chocolate, the chocolate was, in fact, from Switzerland. “If anyone is going to use the Matterhorn for anything, you don’t have any value anymore on Swiss products,” said Mr Stärkle.

In addition to removing the Matterhorn, the wording on the Toblerone bars also had to be changed. Instead of “Toblerone Switzerland”, it will say “Incorporated in Switzerland” on the packaging. The Toblerone chocolate bar was created in 1908 by Theodor Tobler, whose father owned a pastry shop in Bern, Switzerland, in the 19th century.

Mondelez is betting that the savings it makes by moving some production to a country at lower costs will outweigh any impact of removing the Matterhorn from packaging on order. But Mr Stärkle said he could influence the concept of Toblerone chocolate, at least in Switzerland.

“The Swiss are a little angry and say, ‘This isn’t my chocolate anymore,'” he said. “We’re really keen on Swiss chocolate, and we’re really proud of it.”

Much of the enforcement work of the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property, an agency of the Federal Administration of Switzerland, focuses on cases in Turkey, India and the United States. The agency’s work is complicated by differences in laws across countries and regions – and the fact that, of course, it cannot enforce its rules outside of Switzerland.

For example, last year, to the disappointment of Swiss authorities, a US federal judge sided with American cheese producers and ruled that Gruyère could be produced anywhere, not just in Switzerland and France. (Under Swiss law, Gruyère must be made in the region around Gruyères, Switzerland, which has been producing the cheese since the 12th century.) On Friday, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld Decision of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia Gruyère was a generic term for a variety of cheese.