Mountains can be moved, literally.
Confectionary giant Mondelez is set to remove the 14,692ft mountain from Toblerone’s packaging. Why? Well, the company is moving some of Toblerone’s production to Slovakia. This means Toblerone can no longer have Swiss’ mountains on its packaging.
But Toblerone bars will continue to be produced in Switzerland, it had invested in the Bern factory to increase production of its 100 gram bars by 90 million a year. The Toblerone brand of chocolate has been produced in Bern, Swiss capital, since 1908.
The move to Slovakia is also part of Mondelez’s effort to meet the increased demand worldwide and grow the Toblerone brand for the future. The Swiss chocolate brand will have an updated packaging design with a “generic mountain”. It will include a distinctive new Toblerone typeface and signature of the brand’s founder Theodor Tobler. A spokesperson for Mondelez said the chocolate packaging will change to a modern and aerodynamic mountain logo that aligns with its geometric and triangular aesthetic.
Industry watchers believe Toblerone will lose its distinctive brand assets and immolate itself and the company’s sales. They highlighted that Swiss heritage and provenance is essential to the brand and appeal. Industry watchers say Toblerone’s market share will have a negative impact, and eventually kill it. Moreover, it should be noted that the legislation, which Switzerland introduced in 2017, restricts the use of the national flag’s white cross on a red background, and other indicators of Swiss provenance, in foodstuffs, industrial products, and services.
Furthermore, Toblerone landed itself in controversy in 2016 when it increased the gaps between the triangular chocolate chunks on bars sold in the United Kingdom. It wanted to sell the chocolate at the same price but at a reduced weight from 170g to 150g. Mondelez also reduced the weight of the Toblerone bars, 2017, sold in Germany. There was a drop in the triangular peaks from 15 to 11.
