Toblerone was created in the Swiss city of Bern in 1908 by Theodor Tobler, and has been produced in Switzerland ever since. But in June, Mondelez revealed plans to shift some production to Slovakia to meet growing demand for the popular chocolate.
The move appears to violate Switzerland's Swissness legislation, which requires products to meet strict criteria before they can be called Swiss-made.
According to the BBC, Swiss national symbols are not allowed to be used to promote milk-based products that are not made exclusively in Switzerland. For other raw foodstuffs, the threshold is at least 80%.
"For legal reasons, we have to adapt our packaging to the Swissness legislation and, among other things, remove the Swissness notice on the front of the Toblerone pack," Mondelez said.
While the packaging update has not yet been revealed, Mondelez explained, "The redesign of the packaging introduces a modernised and streamlined mountain logo that is consistent with the geometric and triangular aesthetic. The famous hidden bear is retained. The other changes to the packaging also reflect Toblerone's heritage: the font and brand logo are inspired by the Toblerone archives and include the signature of our founder Tobler."
The company said that Switzerland remains an important part of the Toblerone brand. "The Toblerone bars are still and will continue to be produced in Switzerland. Berne plays a central role in Toblerone's history and will continue to do so in the future. That is why we have invested significantly in Berne over the last five years to modernise the factory, increase productivity and competitiveness, and meet changing consumer needs smarter and faster.
"These investments will enable us to increase production of our 100g Toblerone bars in Berne in the medium to long term, ultimately producing 90 million additional 100g bars per year."
