Toblerone has announced a major change to its iconic packaging, a year after it was embroiled in a controversy over how ‘Swiss’ the chocolate is. Last year, the company was banned from using the iconic image of the Swiss Matterhorn mountain peak on its packaging, after it announced it was moving production from Switzerland to Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia. Having the mountain peak on the packaging would’ve violated the country’s Swissness Act, a piece of legislation passed in 2017 that bans national symbols and Swiss crosses from the packaging of products that that do not meet Swissness criteria. But the company today said that it was investing 65million Swiss francs (£60million) into its manufacturing plant in Bern, the country’s capital. With that, it revealed that the Swiss flag would soon adorn the packaging of Toblerone chocolates made in the country to emphasise the brand’s heritage. ‘Toblerone is one of the most famous chocolate brands in the world with tremendous potential,’ said Iain Livingston, President, Toblerone & World Travel Retail. He added: ‘Our centre of excellence in Switzerland, from where we proudly bring our brand and chocolate expertise around the world, is key to the brand’s growth ambition to win in the premium segment.’ Tim Spickenbaum, director of the production facility in Bern, adds: ‘Our plant has been a cornerstone of the Toblerone production for decades. Already today we manufacture on average 4 million Toblerone products per production day. ‘We are therefore delighted about the planned modernizations and investments, which will not only enhance our manufacturing capacity but also solidify Bern’s position as the home and heart of the triangular brand icon.’ The Swiss act specifies that edibles using Swiss national symbols or claiming to be ‘Swiss made’ must contain at least 80 per cent of the product’s raw materials come from Switzerland. This increases to 100 per cent for milk and dairy products. Because of its production of chocolates outside of Switzerland, the company was last year forced to replace the words ‘of Switzerland’ with ‘established in Switzerland.’ Toblerone was invented in Switzerland by Theodor Tobler and Emil Baumann in 1908. ‘Toblerone’ is a play on words from the names ‘Tobler’ and ‘Torrone’, the Italian name for honey-almond nougat. The brand is now owned by multinational firm Mondelez. The company, which also owns the Cadbury family of confectionary, was accused of shrinking their products while keeping prices high – a practice known as ‘shrinkflation.’ Multipacks of Twirl, owned by Cadury, originally contained ten bars, now contain just nine – and have been cut from 215g to 193.5g. With the confectionary typically retailing for £3, the cut means shoppers are now paying £1.55 per 100g, up from £1.40. Manufacturer Mondelez International – which also own brands Daim, Oreo and Toblerone – blamed the move on soaring cocoa and dairy prices. But British customers are set to be left feeling short-changed. Angry shoppers took to the comments section of online grocery website, Ocado, to vent their frustrations. One fumed: ‘Fewer bars, same money. Outrageous.’ Their rating of just three stars out of five for the product was the same as another customer named Claire M, who also criticised the reduction. She said: ‘[They are] lovely but there used to be ten. Shrinkflation.’ Toblerone faced fury in 2023 when new packs went on sale stripped of the sweet’s Matterhorn mountain peak image. The rebranding triggered users on social media after images of the new logo, which recently made an appearance in supermarkets in Switzerland, were shared online. Facebook user Yantar D’yavol said: ‘It’s not just about the mountain, if you look closely you will notice that the bear is gone, a small detail that is easily overlooked.’ Another user named Susanne Albrecht said: ‘That’s right! Where Switzerland is on it, the content should also be from Switzerland. ‘I won’t have to buy anymore in the future!’ Then user Michael Skorjanc commented: ‘This is really an extreme worry!!’ The chocolate treat also sparked controversy in 2016 when the 170g version was shrunk to 150g to keep prices steady – prompting a public outcry. Mondelez, the company behind Toblerone, made the gap between the triangles bigger, with some critics likening the new design to a bike rack. But, following protests from fans in 2018 the Toblerone bar returned to its original shape in two years later. Toblerone made headlines again in 2022 when a 10-year-old boy shocked thousands after he noticed a hidden symbol on the packaging that the majority of people have never seen before. His mum revealed that the boy spotted a ‘secret bear’ inside the image of the Swiss mountains to the left of the word Toblerone. ‘My son had his first Toblerone today. ‘What’s the bear for?’ Me: ‘what bear?’ the woman, called Stephanie, posted online. ‘I was today years old when I found out there’s a bear in the Toblerone logo,’ she laughed.