"Toblerone is a success
story unique to Switzerland. In 1867, Jean Tobler opened a confectionary in
Bern. Over the years, demand for his homemade chocolates grew to such an extent
that he opened a chocolate factory in 1899. In 1908, the Tobler family created
the honey and almond bar that was destined to become an enduring symbol of
Switzerland throughout the world. A year later, Toblerone became the first
patented milk chocolate. It was acquired by Kraft Foods - now Mondelēz
International - in 1990." ~SwissInfo.ch
The name Toblerone is the
combination of the chocolatier's family name, "Tobler", with the
Italian word for nougat, "torrone". And the unique triangular shape
is the stuff of legends.
Some think it is a nod to the one of
the most recognizable mountains in Switzerland, the Matterhorn.
On the official Toblerone website the theory that the triangular shape had far sexier origins is floated, "a red and cream-frilled line of dancers at the Folies Bergères in Paris, forming a shapely pyramid at the end of a show."
In fact, the shape of this chocolate
is said to be the inspiration for anti tank defenses, or toblerones, built by
the Swiss to slow any possible invasion by the Nazis during the Second World
War.
While the triangular shape has
remained the same, the logo of Toblerone has changed over time. The first logo
featured an eagle. Then in the 1920's, they switched to a Bernese bear as Bern
was known as "City of Bears". In the 1930's the eagle reappeared until
2000 when they changed the logo to reflect the Matterhorn mountain, but with a
nod to their home city.
Do you see a shape on the left side of the mountain? Yep, the Bernese bear is in profile 'hiding' on the mountain.
An interesting, and funny, side
note: In 2016 Mondelēz International introduced a lighter, cheaper version of
Toblerone in the UK, but it did not go over well. In fact, some blamed the
cost-cutting measure on Brexit as is illustrated by this social media meme:
![]() |
The bottom picture is actually what they did to cut production costs. |
And being good expats who are eager to assimilate into the local culture as much as possible, we've taken to doing what the Swiss do and eat chocolate! According to this Forbes graph we are fitting in with Swiss societal norms:
A
milk
chocolate
triangle filled
with bits of honey
and almond melts on my
tongue. I am thankful for my
Swiss kindred spirits - a society
that loves chocolate as much as I do.
©2018, Bridget Magee. All Rights Reserved.
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