Mondelez to Scrub Switzerland, Matterhorn Imagery from Toblerone Packaging

March 8, 2023

Chocolate brand’s partial production shift out of Switzerland to Slovakia trades perceived quality label for workforce cost savings.

Andy Hanacek

Mondelez International will remove references to Switzerland from its Toblerone chocolate product line’s packaging in accordance with Swiss law, according to a report from The Associated Press. A planned move of some of the production from Switzerland to Slovakia is forcing the change.

In June, the company announced plans to outsource some operations to Bratislava, Slovakia, trading the ability to claim the product as a Swiss brand for access to a workforce with lower wages and cost of living.

Switzerland adopted a law in 2017 to protect Swiss manufacturers by formalizing the qualifications of what products could claim to be “Swiss” products, which carries the perception of high quality. For food products, at least 80% of the raw materials used in the product must come from Switzerland, and processing steps taken to give a product its “essential characteristics” must occur within the nation’s borders.

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.