There’s A Significant Change Coming To The Iconic Toblerone Packaging

Whether you’ve just picked one up at an airport or it’s the go-to chocolate bar to satisfy your sweet tooth, chances are you’re at least moderately familiar with the unique appearance of Toblerone.

While the triangular box isn’t going anywhere, there is one detail that will be changing in accordance with Swiss law.

Protecting “Swissness”

If it weren’t already clear that Switzerland is serious about preserving the many natural and cultural features that make it such a special country, you need to look no further than its so-called “Swissness” law.

While the regulation prevents national symbols from being used in a variety of unapproved ways, here’s how it impacts Toblerone:

• The bar’s packaging features a rendition of the famous Matterhorn mountain peak.
• Switzerland law doesn’t allow such symbols to be used on chocolate products unless the milk (and 80% of all other ingredients) are sourced from within the country.
• Toblerone is moving some of its operations out of Switzerland, so the change is necessary.

Instead of the Matterhorn, which has been on the product’s packaging for more than half a century, Toblerone noted that it would be replaced by a more generic mountain while maintaining the “geometric and triangular aesthetic” that fans know and love.

Defending the law

While it might seem a little silly on the surface to force the company to alter its logo, the man in charge of Swissness regulations says there is a worthwhile motivation behind the law. Essentially, David Starkle said it would be false advertising for a company like Toblerone to use the image while producing its chocolate outside of Switzerland.

“If anyone will use the Matterhorn for whatever, you don’t have any value anymore on Swiss products,” he explained.

New packages will also replace the phrase “Toblerone of Switzerland” with “Founded in Switzerland.”

Chris Agee March 7th, 2023

Share this story: