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Toblerone to change design under ‘Swissness’ rules
- sidpatil 4y agoHow are these laws enforced outside of Switzerland?
- zoomablemind 4y ago> "...a bear is hidden inside the Matterhorn’s image on the packaging." There it is! That is another Fedex logo arrow moment. Never noticed it before, not sure if the bear will stay after the changes.
- DemocracyFTW2 4y ago> Studies have shown that certain products branded as “made in Switzerland” are sold at a price 20% higher than comparable goods from other origins, with the sale price rising by up to 50% for luxury items. > Mondelēz, which has owned Toblerone since 2012, announced last year that from the end of 2023 it would move some of the production to its plant in Slovakia, where it also produces the Milka chocolate brand originally made in Switzerland. The usual story of corporate greed. They just don't get the valuation and pride that people put into things. So in spite of "Made in Switzerland" giving them such an edge on the market in terms of consumer trust and pricing, of course they have to go where work is cheaper. I've been hating this with a passion since when I was a child. I'm not a brand-loyal consumer at all, but I value that I can buy stuff for a fair price with an assurance of quality and product stability. I grew up with a famous yogurt brand whose unique selling point (apart from the inane amount of money they spent on advertising) was that the sour-ish and rather firm yogurt was put on top of a layer of fruit jam. This was distinctly better than almost all the other brands that were (and still are) homogeneous, super-sweet slurries of all the ingredients. My favorite yogurt maker then got sold to, I believe, Nestle; they then quickly overhauled their new brand and wouldn't you know, they kept the name on the outside but inside they turned it into the same sweet slurry that all the other brands offered. Because, obviously, that's what consumers wanted, right. It totally evades me what goes on in the minds of these 'managers'. What did they 'manage' at all? They just destroyed a brand by executing the one UPS it had.
- hilbert42 4y ago"Mondelēz, which has owned Toblerone since 2012, announced last year that from the end of 2023 it would move some of the production to its plant in Slovakia," Why?
- ravagat 4y agoDamn shame. Toblerone was known because of its allure as Swiss chocolate. I was disappointed when they moved production, something like Toblerone with its brand and weight with its name should have been kept in or removed the name at minimum.
- sys42590 4y agoToblerone Milk as it can be bought here has only 5.6 gramms of protein per 100 gramms. A good milk chocolade should have at least 7 gramms of protein per 100 gramms (aim for 8 gramms if possible). So Mondelez cashes in on the brand name and the still perceived Swissness while selling you cheap chocolate.
- gruez 4y ago> Toblerone Milk as it can be bought here has only 5.6 gramms of protein per 100 gramms. A good milk chocolade should have at least 7 gramms of protein per 100 gramms (aim for 8 gramms if possible). Could this be explained by the fact that the bar contains other stuff like nougat? They very well might be using "good milk chocolate", but if there's also nougat in there and it has low protein, then it's going to drag down the overall protein ratio.
- voytec 4y agoNougats have 8g proteins per 100g though.
- sys42590 4y agoAgreed, a good nougat also has more than 5.6% of protein. Nuts in general rather rise protein content of chocolate.
- wirrbel 4y agoSurely it’s better than Hershey chocolate
- Macha 4y agoSure, but the problem is in recent years it's gone from three tiers above to one tier above
- explaininjs 4y agoSpotted the non-American! We love our Hershey's, butyric acid and all. European milk chocolates lack complexity IMO. It's akin to claiming Kraft Singles are a better cheese than Parmigiano Reggiano because they don't taste "like vomit". That said, I'd prefer a good dark to either one. See also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J44svaQc5WY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J44svaQc5WY
- Pigalowda 4y agoSo it’ll be Slovakian chocolate now.
- FinanceAnon 4y agoI wonder if the hidden bear will remain on the logo
- kennywinker 4y agoI would support legislating this kind of thing everywhere. Is your water from fiji? Guess you can’t call it fiji then. Ginger ale made in bottling plants all over the world? Then why is it called Canada Dry? Lies to sell products are still lies.
- antiterra 4y agoFiji water is indeed from Fiji, which seems a little wasteful when there’s apparently nothing special about it otherwise.
- kennywinker 4y agoOof. That’s upsetting. Shipping water has got to be one of the least efficient things imaginable. I just assumed they were lying because it’s so common to lie about the geography of your product.
- vasco 4y agoYou're not really shipping water, you're shipping plastic bottles with marketing labels. Once you think of it like that it makes more sense. Anyone that is buying Fiji water could already have a reusable bottle and drink from the tap.
- kennywinker 4y agoWell, no, because they're shipping the weight of the water as well.
- neomech 4y agoThey probably should dehydrate it first.
- tzs 4y agoYou probably meant that as a joke...but suppose they made sure there was a trace of actual Fiji water in the bottle before they filled the bottle with local water could they legally get away with saying its from Fiji if they added "homeopathic" to the label?
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- RcouF1uZ4gsC 4y ago> Since 1908, Toblerone has been produced in the Swiss capital, Berne, whose heraldic animal – a bear – is hidden inside the Matterhorn’s image on the packaging. I have eaten Toblerone for many years but this is the first time I noticed the bear.
- boomboomsubban 4y ago>Such “controversies” guaranteed Toblerone a run of free marketing, with sales reportedly rising in spite of supposed outrage among customers. The bar reverted to its original shape in 2018. Printing that line in a story about a Toblerone controversy is vaguely annoying. "We know we are providing them free advertising for a nothing story but you're reading it anyway. Don't you want a Toblerone now?"
- johnaspden 4y agoI was just thinking, I wonder where I can get me a Toblerone.
- jareklupinski 4y agoYea but I read the comments here instead of the article Now I'm going to forever be checking to make sure my chocolate has more than 8g of protein per 100g of product
- mock-possum 4y agoshit I do kinda want a Toblerone now
- kuon 4y agoOut of curiosity, is something like micro swiss "outlaw" ? https://store.micro-swiss.com/ https://store.micro-swiss.com/
- codetrotter 4y ago> All our products are developed, designed and manufactured in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. That’s pretty weird for a company naming themselves “Micro Swiss”. Hopefully at least the person or people that started Micro Swiss have some kind of connection to Switzerland, like for example that there is some great-great-great-grandmother that came from Switzerland or something.
- joshvm 4y agoThis is an interesting example, because there are brands like PB Swiss Tools which are Swiss and have a good reputation. Micro Swiss is named so, because of the type of (micro) lathes they used originally to make the nozzles. I don't have a primary source but it seems reasonable. https://www.mmsonline.com/articles/understanding-swiss-type-machining https://www.mmsonline.com/articles/understanding-swiss-type-... See also the Swiss water process for decaffeinated coffee - the process was invented in Switzerland but it can be done anywhere (obviously). Though what about Swiss Miss cocoa? They've always been based in WI and have no connection.
- akaij 4y ago> Though what about Swiss Miss cocoa? They've always been based in WI and have no connection. Maybe related to the sizable Swiss community in Wisconsin?
- sschueller 4y agoYes it is violating the law. 100% US made and it has a Swiss cross in addition to the word Swiss in its logo/name. https://www.kmu.admin.ch/kmu/en/home/concrete-know-how/sme-management/labeling/swissness.html https://www.kmu.admin.ch/kmu/en/home/concrete-know-how/sme-m...
- a2800276 4y agoI thought this poor excuse for chocolate is only bought by drunken Brits at duty free stores to fool the cashier into thinking there's a child in the stroller so they can get an additional palette of Stella and carton of cigarettes...
- favaq 4y agoAh, I didn't know Switzerland had the trademark rights of the likeness of the Matterhorn. Neat! Also: Toblerone enjoys a great deal of publicity but tastes like shit. I had one some time ago and it was so sugary that I found it disgusting.
- moomin 4y agohttps://www.dumptheguardian.com/world/2023/mar/05/matterhorn-mountain-toblerone-packaging-design-switzerland https://www.dumptheguardian.com/world/2023/mar/05/matterhorn... If you don’t want to register.
- SCdF 4y agoYou don't need to register to read the guardian
- moomin 4y agoInteresting, I don’t see a registration page on PC, but on iPhone I’m receiving this: You need to register to keep reading It’s still free to read – this is not a paywall We’re committed to keeping our quality reporting open. By registering and providing us with insight into your preferences, you’re helping us to engage with you more deeply, and that allows us to keep our journalism free for all. You’ll always be able to control your own privacy settings.
- SCdF 4y agoYep even with that you can click "I'll do it later" or something like that, at least last I checked.
- hermannj314 4y agoThe future of consumer food should be colorless, bland packaging that unambiguously describes the product. Cattle, not pets. We don't need to name our food in 2023.
- johnaspden 4y agoEmulsified High Fat Offal Tubes 237g 40% sawdust 20% water 20% mechanically recovered abbatoir floor meat 19% rapeseed oil 1% unpronounceable chemicals
- hermannj314 4y agoSetup refrigerator monitoring, drop that into a YAML file, and let the cluster decide when it needs to provision more. It's the only way to eat food at scale.
- EntrePrescott 4y ago… among the latter of course: the green colorant that gives "Soylent Green" its characteristic color. Oh and while the abattoir floor meat is from cattle, the offal tubes are made from the meat of another mammal that we better not name here so as to not worry the customers
- mortehu 4y agoStore brands today do have deliberately bland packaging, in part so that you will be put off by it and buy a more expensive brand if you can afford it. Given this behavior I don't think bland packaging will ever dominate.
- db48x 4y agoIt's worse than that: bright colorful packaging is a Nash Equilibrium.
- sidpatil 4y agohttps://xkcd.com/993/ https://xkcd.com/993/
- mcdonje 4y ago>The treat’s name is a portmanteau of the surname of the bar’s inventor, Theodor Tobler, and torrone, a toasted-almond nougat confection typical of Christmas traditions in south-western Europe. I take exception at the word "inventor" here. "Creator" would work better. It's a candy bar. He didn't invent candy bars. He created a candy bar. There's enough distinctiveness for a trademark, but there isn't enough inventiveness for a patent.
- kube-system 4y agoThe production process was patented. https://www.lifepr.de/pressemitteilung/kraft-foods-deutschland-gmbh/Toblerone-einzigartiger-Genuss-mit-Patent/boxid/97726 https://www.lifepr.de/pressemitteilung/kraft-foods-deutschla... Regardless, the patent office is not a gatekeeper for the use of “inventor”.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- lajosbacs 4y agoI once at party spoke with a Swiss lawyer that focuses on these infringements. He told me: 'If you label something as "Swiss" and a certain percentage is not actually made here, you will eventually get a letter from me'. I wonder whether there is another country that takes this as seriously as Switzerland.
- froh 4y agooh yah! Nürnberger Bratwurst is guaranteed to be produced in Nuremberg, Germany. They go after you if you produce it outside. same for Dresdner Stollen and quite some more regional products.
- lajosbacs 4y agoYes, the regional products in Europe for sure. But a whole country and all products? I can imagine that Japan would do something like this, as it is usually synonymous with quality (as Swiss is) and they do not want brand dilution.
- froh 4y agoWhole country, yes, but only select products, greece for example has Feta [eAmbrosia] I doubt this ever is "for all products" though. As this is an international regulation I intuit you have to register in some appropriate international body for protection, no? [eAmbrosia] the EU geographical indications register https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/food-safety-and-quality/certification/quality-labels/geographical-indications-register/ https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/food-safety...
- justoreply 4y agoAlso Matterhorn is at the border with Italy, it is not Swiss exclusive (it is called Cervino in Italian)
- erikpukinskis 4y agoYah, but the Toblerone packaging uses an image of the Swiss side.
- justoreply 4y agoah!
- thunderbong 4y agoI found the following point interesting - In 2016, Toblerone grabbed headlines when it increased the gaps between the triangular chocolate chunks on bars sold in the UK, supposedly to be able to sell the snack at the same price but at a weight reduced from 170g to 150g. A year later, Mondelēz also reduced the weight of Toblerone bars sold in Germany, with the number of triangular peaks down to 11 from 15. Such “controversies” guaranteed Toblerone a run of free marketing, with sales reportedly rising in spite of supposed outrage among customers. The bar reverted to its original shape in 2018.
- thomasahle 4y agoInteresting. I have never seen one of those "diluted toblerones": https://www.ft.com/content/9ca7438a-a75e-11e6-8898-79a99e2a4de6 https://www.ft.com/content/9ca7438a-a75e-11e6-8898-79a99e2a4... but they look ugly.
- petre 4y agoSeems legitimate. They could use the Rysy peak in the High Tatras if the company moves production to Slovakia.
- GregDavidson 4y agoOne of the disappointments of living in the USA is that when I buy that Gouda imported from the Netherlands, etc. it's actually a special (and not very good) product made for the American market and not sold in Europe. It's a guaranteed fake! Part of why our products are often poor is we can't get the real thing to compare!
- tiimbz 4y agoFun fact: One of the most most popular Gouda cheeses sold in The Netherlands is actually made in New Zealand.