Toblerone

Toblerone

Product type	Chocolate bar
Owner	Mondelēz International (U.S.)
Country	Switzerland
Introduced	1908; 113 years ago (1908)
Related brands	List of Kraft brands
Previous owners	Kraft Foods Inc. (1990–2012) Jacobs Suchard AG (1982–90) Interfood S.A. (1970–82) Tobler (1908–70)
Website	toblerone.fr

Toblerone (/ˈtoʊbləroʊn/ TOH-blər-ohn, German: [tobləˈroːnə]) is a Swiss chocolate brand^[1] produced in Bern.^[2] A bear, the symbol of the city, is depicted on its logo. Toblerone is known for its distinctive shape, a series of joined triangular prisms.

Since 2012, the brand is owned by US company Mondelez International (successor of Kraft Foods Inc., which had acquired Toblerone from owner Jacobs Suchard in 1990).^[3]

History[]

Theodor Tobler created the bar and its packaging.

Toblerone was created by Emil Baumann & Theodor Tobler (1876–1941) in Bern, Switzerland, in 1908. Emil Baumann, the cousin of Theodor Tobler, created the unique recipe consisting of milk chocolate including nougat, almonds, and honey. Theodor Tobler came up with the distinctive triangular shape and packaging. The product's name is a portmanteau combining Tobler's name with the Italian word torrone (a type of nougat).^[4][5][6]

The Matterhorn in the Alps served as inspiration for the bar shape.

The triangular shape of the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps/Italian 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.^[7] Nevertheless, a silhouette of the Matterhorn appears on the modern Toblerone packaging, as seen in the photo above right.

Some early advertisements for Tobler chocolate appeared in the international languages Esperanto^[8] and Ido.^[9]

Theodor Tobler applied for a patent for the Toblerone manufacturing process in Bern in 1909.^[7] The Toblerone brand was trademarked in 1909, at the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property in Bern.^[10]

The Tobler company was independent for many years. In 1970, it merged with Suchard, the makers of Milka, to become Interfood. After the Tobler & Suchard merger it was decided to create a new and single source for marketing & exporting the various products manufactured by both companies worldwide, Multifood. Max E. Baumann, the son of Emil Baumann, was made director of this new division. Tobler & Suchard companies merged with the Jacobs coffee company in 1982 to create Jacobs Tobler & Suchard. Kraft Foods Inc acquired the majority of Jacobs Suchard, including Toblerone, in 1990; in 2012, it was spun off (alongside several other brands) to Mondelēz.

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:

1920s advertisement

Advertising in the 1960s included the production of a model Volkswagen Type 2 by Corgi Toys, featuring Toblerone designs on its side panels.

Toblerone ice cream

Toblerone displays in Hong Kong

For the yearly Toblerone Schoggifest, a special oversized bar is created to celebrate the bar's anniversary. The bar's weight represents the years of Toblerone, with the first bar in 2008 weighing 100 kg.^[11]

Since the 1970s, other variants of Toblerone have been produced. These include:

Plain chocolate

Dark chocolate in a yellow or black triangular box (1969)

White chocolate

In a white triangular box (1973)

Snowtop

Editions with white chocolate peaks, also in a white/silver triangular box

Filled editions

Milk chocolate with a white chocolate centre (blue triangular box)

OneByOne

Individually wrapped triangular chunks

Toblerone Pralines

Released in 1997, a single peaked version in the distinctive beige 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 (2009)

Crunchy Salted Almond

With honey and almond nougat and salted caramelised almonds

Berner Bär

500g 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.^[12]

Toblerone Tobelle

Toblerone thins in a beige triangular box

Crispy Coconut

With honey and almond nougat and coconut

2016 size changes[]

In 2016, the 400g and 170g bars in the United Kingdom were modified to have two peaks removed and larger gaps between each peak, which cut the weight of the bars and reduced costs while retaining the same package size and retail price. This change reduced the weights of the aforementioned bars to 360g and 150g respectively; other sizes of bar were unaffected. The change was not well received,^[13][14][15] with one MSP calling for "government action" by the Scottish Parliament over the change.^[16] In 2018, it was announced that the bars would revert to its original shape, and the 170g (150g) bar would be replaced by a 200g bar.^[17]

Manufacturing[]

In the past it has been manufactured in other locations including Bedford in England.^[18] In the 1970s and 1980s, it was manufactured under licence for the Yugoslav market by Kraš in Zagreb (present-day Croatia).^{[citation needed]}

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 licence during the 1970s and 1980s.^{[citation needed]}

Another comparable product is Mahony,^[19][20] produced by the company Chocolat-Frey AG in Switzerland.

In July 2017, in response to Toblerone's 2016 reduction in size, UK variety store chain Poundland launched its own version of Toblerone called "Twin Peaks", which is larger than the modified Toblerone bar.^[21]

Cultural impact[]

Moss-covered anti-tank pyramids, commonly referred to as "Toblerones"

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.^[22][23]

The interior of the Tobler factory in Switzerland was the location where the title sequence of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory was filmed. However, the majority of the film was produced in West Germany.^[24]

Toblerones were seen in episodes of the British World War Two spy drama Secret Army, with them being traded on the black market.

In 1995, it was revealed that the Swedish politician Mona Sahlin had misused her government-issued credit card for unauthorised purchases. Because she had bought, among many other more expensive items, two bars of Toblerone, pro-Sahlin journalists attempted to downplay her abuse of parliamentary financial privileges as the "Toblerone affair". These attempts were ultimately unsuccessful, and Sahlin was forced to step down as a candidate for the post as Prime Minister. She returned to politics in 1998.^[25]

A triangular 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.^[26][27]

The largest-sized Toblerone in production^[28] is featured as a running gag in the 2017 Netflix series Neo Yokio.^[29]

See also[]

• List of references to the Matterhorn

References[]

Bibliography[]

• Schott, Ben (2003). Schott's Food & Drink Miscellany. London: Bloomsbury ISBN 0-7475-6654-2

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Toblerone (chocolate bar).

• Official website