Toblerone's iconic Matterhorn Mountain Peak image to be Removed from Packaging as US Owner shifts Production away from Switzerland

The Swissness Act, which came into effect in 2017, prohibits the use of national symbols and Swiss crosses on the packaging of goods that fail to meet Swissness standards.

Information

The Matterhorn mountain peak's depiction on Toblerone chocolate bar packaging will soon be removed as Mondelez International Inc., the brand's US owner, is shifting some of its production away from Switzerland. To comply with the Swissness Act, which prohibits the inappropriate use of Swiss national symbols, the company is altering the design of the mountain on the cardboard wrapper, according to Swiss newspaper Aargauer Zeitung.

According to the newspaper, Mondelez had revealed its intentions to relocate some Toblerone production to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, last year. In response, the company is altering the packaging design to feature a less specific mountain image, rather than the renowned Matterhorn.

The Changes being made

A Mondelez Spokesperson was quoted talking to Aargauer Zeitung, “The packaging redesign introduces a modernized and streamlined mountain logo that aligns with the geometric and triangular aesthetic." The Toblerone packaging will now state "established in Switzerland" instead of "of Switzerland."

What's the Swissness Act?

In 2017, Switzerland passed the Swissness Act, which prohibits the use of national symbols and Swiss crosses on the packaging of products that fail to meet Swissness criteria. The act specifies that food items utilizing Swiss national symbols or advertising themselves as "Swiss made" must source at least 80% of the product's raw materials from Switzerland, with milk and dairy products requiring 100%. The production of a Swiss made product must also entail significant work carried out in Switzerland, with the exception of raw materials that cannot be found in the country, such as cocoa.