A “bitter” decision was needed to be taken by Mondelez, the parent company of the popular chocolate Toblerone. US company to remove iconic Swiss mountain Matterhorn from packaging for breach of ‘Swissness’ law…

The US company’s decision to move part of its production to Slovakia’s capital Bratislava from this year violates the strict 2017 legislation.

From now on, Toblerone packaging will not show the Matterhorn, but the general design of a… mountain peak. On the box with the characteristic triangular shape will be written the phrase “founded in Switzerland” instead of “(product of) Switzerland”.

“The packaging redesign ushers in a modernized and improved mountain logo, which aligns with the geometric and triangular aesthetic,” claimed the Mondelez representative to the Swiss newspaper Aargauer Zeitung, wanting to demonstrate that the reasons for the change are simply… aesthetic.

The “Swissness” legislation

The “Swissness” law, adopted in 2017, restricts the use of the Swiss flag as well as other emblematic elements demonstrating Swiss culture and origin (Mattehorn) in food, industrial products and services.

For food to be marketed as “produced in Switzerland”, 80% of the raw materials must come from the country, and most of the processing must take place there. For milk and milk-based products, the required quota is 100%, with exceptions for ingredients that cannot be sourced from Switzerland, such as cocoa.

Studies have shown that some products labeled as ‘made in Switzerland’ sell for 20% more than comparable products from other origins, with the selling price increasing by up to 50% for luxury goods.

Since 1908, Toblerone chocolate has been produced in the Swiss capital, Bern, whose heraldic symbol – a bear – is hidden within the Mattehorn image on the packaging.