Toblerone

Toblerone
Toblerone product logo
Place of origin:
Switzerland
Region or state:
Bern
Creator(s):
Theodor Tobler (1876-1941) and Emil Baumann (1883-1966)[1]
Recipes at Wikibooks:
Toblerone
Media at Wikimedia Commons:
Toblerone

Toblerone

Toblerone

Toblerone (/ˈtoʊbləroʊn/; German: [tobləˈroːnə]) is a Swiss chocolate bar brand owned by Mondelēz International, Inc., which acquired the product from former owner Jacobs Suchard in 1990. It is produced in Bern and is well known for its distinctive prism shape (triangular prism or pentahedron).

History

Toblerone 200g bars

Toblerone was created by Theodor Tobler (1876–1941) in Bern, Switzerland in 1908. Theodor Tobler together with Emil Baumann (Theodor Tobler’s cousin) developed a unique milk chocolate including nougat, almonds and honey with a distinctive triangular shape. The image of a bear is hidden in the Matterhorn high mountain symbolizing the town of its origin as well as the fact that bears like to roam to higher elevations for fresher air.^[2]

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.^[3]

Some early advertisements for Tobler chocolate appeared in the international languages, Esperanto^[4] and Ido.^[5]

Theodor Tobler applied for a patent for the Toblerone manufacturing process in Bern in 1909.^[6] The Toblerone brand was trademarked in 1909, at the Federal Institute for Intellectual Property in Bern.^[6]

The Tobler company was independent for many years. In 1970, it merged with Suchard, the makers of Milka, to become Interfood. Tobler company merged with the Jacobs coffee company in 1982 to create Jacobs Suchard. Mondelēz (Kraft Foods at that time) 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 (a type of nougat).^[7][8]

The name also contains the name of the place where it is produced: Toblerone (Bern or Berne). And the logo contains a bear, the emblem of the city.

Sizes and variants

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

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:

For the Toblerone Schoggifest starting in 2008 a special bar has been created, each with 11 peaks.^[9] The weight represents the years of Toblerone.

In 1932 Tobler made the first filled bars of chocolate, the Tobler-O-rum.

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

Plain chocolate

(dark chocolate) in a green or black triangular box

White chocolate

in a white triangular box

Snow-Capped

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 yellow 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 Almond

with honey and almond nougat and salted caramelised almonds

Berner Bär

500 g (18 oz) 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.^[10]

Toblerone Tobelle

Toblerone thins in a yellow triangular box

Manufacturing

Toblerone is today manufactured exclusively in the Swiss city of Bern-Brünnen.^[11]

It has in the past 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 (present-day Croatia).

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. Another comparable product is Mahony,^[12] produced by the company Chocolat-Frey AG in Switzerland.

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.^{[citation needed]}

In 1995 it was revealed that the Swedish politician Mona Sahlin had bought, among other things, two bars of Toblerone using her Riksdag credit card (i.e., with taxpayers' money). This became known as the Toblerone affair. Sahlin was forced to step down as a candidate for the post as Prime Minister. She returned to politics in 1998.^[13]

A triangular shaped 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.

In theatre production, a three-sided, free-standing, wheeled version of the standard theatre flat is commonly called a "Toblerone" or "Tobe" due to its physical resemblance to the confectionery.

Alleged child labour

In 2013, Stop the Traffik - a charity that aims to stop human trafficking - ran a campaign titled "When Will Toblerone Be Traffik-Free?", which aimed to target Toberlone's use of children in the harvesting of the ingredient, cocoa. 16,000 'postcards' were sent out to campaigners, which were then signed and returned to Stop the Traffik's London office. These postcards were then hand delivered to Mondelēze's headquarters.^[14]

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.

• Official website
• History of Toblerone with packaging perspective, Design Technology