This post was originally published on this site
If you love Toblerone chocolate bars in all their sweet, Swiss-made glory, you may have to come to a new geographical understanding. The candy can no longer be identified as Swiss because some of it is being produced in … Bratislava.
On top of that, the bars will no longer feature those Swiss mountain peaks as part of their signature design. In short, it’s a whole new brand identity.
According to reports, the change is because of something called the Swissness Act — a 2017 Swiss law that puts certain criteria in place if companies want to use national symbols or make certain Swiss-made claims.
Toblerone is owned by Mondelez International Inc.
MDLZ,
the food conglomerate behind such other prominent brands as Cadbury chocolates and Chips Ahoy cookies.
A Mondelez spokesperson told MarketWatch that Toblerone continues to have a Swiss connection in terms of much of its production — specifically in the city of Bern, which “plays a central role in Toblerone’s history and will continue to do so in the future,” the spokesperson said.
However, the spokesperson acknowledged the shift of some production to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, “to create additional capacity.”
The spokesperson also addressed the change in packaging and brand identity. “For legal reasons, we have to adapt our packaging to the Swissness legislation and, among other things, remove the Swissness notice on the front of the Toblerone pack,” the spokesperson said.
The new packaging will include the signature of Theodore Tobler, who helped create the chocolate bar in 1908.
There’s no indication that Toblerone is making any changes to the chocolate itself. Nevertheless, the news that the bars will no longer be able to claim the Swiss connection has some Toblerone fans concerned. As one tweeted, “Nothing is sacred.”
