THE WELL-KNOWN image of a Swiss mountain on Toblerone packaging will no longer appear on the chocolate bars as some of its production leaves Switzerland.

Production of some Toblerone products is moving to Slovakia, prompting parent company Mondelez to remove the image of the Matterhorn mountain to avoid breaching ‘Swissness’ legislation, according to Swiss newspaper Argauer Zeitung. 

Since it was established in 1908 in the Tobler family factory, the triangular chocolate has been produced exclusively in Bern, the capital of Swizterland.

However, Mondelez International announced last year that Toblerone would open a new production line in Slovakia by the end of 2023 “to respond to the growing demand”.

The move proved hard to swallow for some in Switzerland, unhappy to see a cherished national icon going abroad — especially one which features the famous pyramid-shaped Matterhorn mountain on its packaging and the bear of Bern, symbol of the city.

Mondelez International told AFP in an emailed statement at the time that it was continuing to invest in the Bern plant, “the homeland of Toblerone”.

“Bern is an important part of our history and will continue to be so in the future,” it said.

The launch of a production line in Slovakia, where Mondelez also produces Milka and Suchard chocolates, “will unlock significant capacity” at the Bern site, which will eventually allow it to “manufacture millions of additional bars,” Mondelez said.

“For legal reasons, the changes we are bringing to our production require us to adjust our packaging to comply with Swiss law, in particular to remove the word ‘Switzerland’ from the front of the packaging,” the company said.

Toblerone produces seven billion chocolate bars a year, with 97% exported to 120 countries. 

Additional reporting by Lauren Boland