Toblerone is a Swiss chocolate bar brand owned by US-American Mondelēz International, Inc.,
which acquired the product from former owner Jacobs Suchard in 1990.
It is produced in Bern and is well known for its distinctive prism shape.
History Toblerone was created by Theodor Tobler in
Bern, Switzerland in 1908.
Theodor Tobler, with his cousin Emil Baumann, developed a unique milk chocolate including
nougat, almonds and honey with a distinctive triangular shape.
The image of a bear is hidden in the Matterhorn high mountain, symbolizing the town of the
chocolate's origin.
The triangular shape of the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps is commonly believed to have
given Theodor Tobler his inspiration for the shape of Toblerone.
However, according to Theodor's sons, the triangular shape originates from a pyramid
shape that dancers at the Folies Bergères created as the finale of a show that Theodor
saw.
Some early advertisements for Tobler chocolate appeared in the international languages Esperanto
and Ido.
Theodor Tobler applied for a patent for the Toblerone manufacturing process in Bern in
1909.
The Toblerone brand was trademarked in 1909, at the Federal Institute for Intellectual
Property in Bern.
The Tobler company was independent for many years.
In 1970, it merged with Suchard, the makers of Milka, to become Interfood.
Tobler company merged with the Jacobs coffee company in 1982 to create Jacobs Suchard.
Mondelēz acquired the majority of Jacobs Suchard, including Toblerone, in 1990.
Name The product's name is a portmanteau combining
Tobler's name with the Italian word torrone.
The name also contains the name of the place where it is produced: Toblerone.
And the logo contains a bear, the emblem of the city.
Sizes and variants
Bar sizes range from ten centimetres to nearly one metre, all similarly proportioned.
According to Schott's Food & Drink Miscellany the sizes and number of peaks for Toblerones
are as follows: For the Toblerone Schoggifest starting in
2008 a special bar has been created, each with 11 peaks.
The weight represents the years of Toblerone.
In 1932 Tobler made the first filled bars of chocolate, the Tobler-O-rum.
Since the 1970s, other variants of Toblerone have been produced.
These include: Plain chocolate
(dark chocolate) in a green or black triangular box
White chocolate in a white triangular box
Snowtop editions with white chocolate peaks, also
in a white/silver triangular box Filled editions
milk chocolate with a white chocolate centre OneByOne
individually wrapped triangular chunks Toblerone Pralines
released in 1997, a single peaked version in the distinctive yellow packaging
Fruit and Nut in 2007 with a half purple triangular cardboard
box Honeycomb crisp
with a half white box with honeycomb pieces pictured on it
Crunchy Salted Almond with honey and almond nougat and salted caramelised
almonds Berner Bär
500 g milk chocolate bar, with a relief portrait of the Bernese Bear and the Coat of arms of
Bern on its face.
The only non-triangular Toblerone.
Toblerone Tobelle Toblerone thins in a yellow triangular box
Manufacturing Toblerone is today manufactured exclusively
in the Swiss city of Bern-Brünnen.
It has in the past been manufactured in other locations including Bedford in England.
In the 1970s and 1980s, it was manufactured under license for the Yugoslav market by Kraš
in Zagreb.
Similar products A similar product is the Croatian product
Kolumbo, made by factory Kraš from Zagreb.
This chocolate is also composed of pyramids of hazelnuts and honey.
Kraš was producing Toblerone under license during the 1970s and 1980s.
Another comparable product is Mahony, produced by the company Chocolat-Frey AG in Switzerland.
Cultural impact The distinct pyramidal shape of the bar lent
its name to the Toblerone line, a series of anti-tank emplacements prevalent in Switzerland's
border areas.
In 1995 it was revealed that the Swedish politician Mona Sahlin had bought, among other things,
two bars of Toblerone using her Riksdag credit card.
This became known as the Toblerone affair.
Sahlin was forced to step down as a candidate for the post as Prime Minister.
She returned to politics in 1998.
A triangular shaped set of student residences on the Oxford Road, Manchester for students
of the University of Manchester built circa 1975 and resembling the chocolate bar are
known as the Toblerones.
In theatre production, a three-sided, free-standing, wheeled version of the standard theatre flat
is commonly called a "Toblerone" or "Tobe" due to its physical resemblance to the confection.
Alleged child labour In 2013, Stop the Traffik - a charity that
aims to stop human trafficking - ran a campaign titled "When Will Toblerone Be Traffik-Free?",
which aimed to target Toberlone's use of children in the harvesting of the ingredient, cocoa.
16,000 'postcards' were sent out to campaigners, which were then signed and returned to Stop
the Traffik's London office.
These postcards were then hand delivered to Mondelēze's headquarters.
References
Bibliography Schott, Ben Schott's Food & Drink Miscellany.
London: Bloomsbury ISBN 0-7475-6654-2 External links
Official website History of Toblerone with packaging perspective,
Design Technology