“Made in Switzerland”

A year after the rebranding of Toblerone, Mondelez's Swiss chocolate brand, it seems that a large part of its Brand Assets will be lost. Mondelez is currently designing a new packaging for the iconic triangular chocolate bar.

Toblerone's cost priority

Last year, Mondelez announced that its Toblerone production is moving from Bern, Switzerland to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, to reduce production costs. By the end of 2023, Toblerone will be produced to a great extent at its new location.

So, it looks like Mondelez prefers cheaper production to brand values and the unique link to the product, as the brand needs a certain amount of touching up before production can start at its new location.

Swissness

The reason behind Toblerone's visual changes is the 'Swissness' law, introduced in 2017. The law forbids placing Swiss symbols and Swiss crosses on products that don't fit the so-called Swissness criteria. In order to market a food product with the words 'Made in Switzerland', at least 80% of its raw materials and processing must take place in Switzerland itself, which will no longer be the case for Toblerone.

As Toblerone's production moves to Slovakia, leaving Switzerland for a large part, the chocolate brand will be forced to make changes in its logo. The reason for this is the Matterhorn mountain on Toblerone's packaging, which is considered a Swiss symbol according to this law.

Endangered bear

The changes to the logo are made by the company to avoid breaking the Swiss law. The visual changes also mean removing the famous bear in Toblerone's logo. The bear stands for the Swiss city Bern, which is also called the city of bears, and symbolises its unique honey flavour. In addition, the statement 'from Switzerland' will be replaced by 'based in Switzerland' on the packaging of the iconic triangular chocolate bars.

Luckily, some Brand Assets like the triangular aesthetic are still retained, however, we are very curious to see Toblerone's new look!