According to Watson, from this July the chocolate brand Toblerone will no longer be able to use the Matterhorn as its iconic logo. The newspaper explained that the change was necessary because of Mondelēz's decision to increase manufacturing overseas.
Swissness Act prohibits use of Matterhorn on Toblerone
Currently, all Toblerone chocolate bars are manufactured in a factory in Bern. However, because of recent demands for an increase in salaries, and with production at capacity, Mondelēz made the decision to start producing the chocolate overseas in Bratislava, Slovakia in July. While this could be seen as a good way to increase production, it means that chocolate can no longer be called “Swiss-made.”
Laws passed in 2017, called the “Swissness Act” state that if a product wants to use the Swiss flag, crosses, historical sites, mountains, lakes and other landmarks in its logo or branding, 80 percent of the product must be made with Swiss sourced materials (cocoa is an exception) and the “essential work” to build the product must be done in Switzerland.
Therefore, because of the new factory in Slovakia, the international company will no longer be allowed to use the Matthorn in branding for Toblerone from July, and must change the description on the packaging from “of Switzerland” to “established in Switzerland”.
Toblerone first featured the Swiss mountain in 1970
The famous Swiss mountain has adorned the packaging of the chocolate since 1970 and was once said to be the inspiration for the chocolate bar’s quirky shape when it was first produced in 1899 by Theodor Tobler. Now, according to the Institute of Intellectual Property, because there is an “inextricable” link in people’s minds between the chocolate bar and the Matterhorn, they are no longer able to use it.
In response, Mondelēz wrote on its website that it will replace the mountain logo. "The packaging redesign introduces a modernised and streamlined mountain logo that aligns with the geometric and triangular aesthetic," they explained. Watson theorised that this means the new logo will be a highly simplified version of the mountain that will look "different enough" to use.
People will still regard the brand as from Switzerland, expert says
Luckily, for those fearing that Switzerland is about to lose one of its most popular brands, marketing expert Stefan Vogler told Watson that while the removal of a Swiss icon is never a good thing, the change will probably not impact Mondelēz's bottom line, and that outside of Switzerland, "Toblerone should still be regarded as a Swiss brand by most consumers."