Toblerone


Toblerone is a Swiss chocolate bar brand currently owned by US confectionery company Mondelēz International, Inc., which was formerly Kraft Foods, the company that acquired the product from former owner Jacobs Suchard in 1990. It is produced in the capital city of Switzerland, Bern, and the bear symbol of the city is still visible in the logo. Toblerone is known for its distinctive shape, which involves a series of joined triangular prisms.

History

Toblerone was created by Emil Baumann & Theodor Tobler 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 and Theodor Tobler came up with the distinctive triangular shape and packaging.
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 Swiss Federal Institute of 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. 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. 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.

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:
SizeTinyMini35 g50 g75 g100 g150 g200 g360 g750 g4.5 kg
Size1.2 oz1.7 oz2.6 oz3.5 oz5.3 oz7.0 oz12.7 oz26.5 oz159 oz
Peaks338111112910111712

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.
Since the 1970s, other variants of Toblerone have been produced. These include:
; Plain chocolate: in a yellow 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 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
; 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 beige triangular box
; Crispy Coconut: with honey and almond nougat and coconut

2016 size changes

In 2016 two peaks were removed and larger gaps were introduced between each peak, in two of the bars in the United Kingdom, to cut the weight of the bars and reduce costs, while retaining the same package size and retail price. This change reduced the weight of the 400g bar to 360g and of the 170g to 150g; other sizes of bar were unaffected. The change was not well received, with one MSP calling for "government action" by the Scottish Parliament over the change. In 2018, it was announced that the bars would revert to their original shape, and the 150g bar replaced by a 200g bar.

Manufacturing

In the past it has 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.
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Another comparable product is Mahony, 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.

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.
The interior of the Tobler factory in Switzerland was the location where the title sequence of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory was filmed.
In 1995, it was revealed that the Swedish politician Mona Sahlin had misused her government-issued credit card for unauthorized 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.
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.
The largest-sized Toblerone in production is featured as a running gag in the 2017 Netflix series Neo Yokio.