TOBLERONE® PARTS WAYS WITH THE MATTERHORN

The “Swissness” regulation in force since January 1, 2017 has strengthened the protection of indications of source (Swiss, made in Switzerland, Swiss quality…). The same applies to direct or indirect references to Swiss origin such as the Swiss cross, images of the Matterhorn…

More specifically for foodstuffs, the main criteria for the indication of Swiss origin (article 48b of the law on the protection of trademarks – LPM) are a Swiss origin of the raw materials and a place of processing in Switzerland, and more precisely:

“The origin of a foodstuff corresponds to the place where at least 80% of the weight of the raw materials that compose it come from. For milk and milk products, this proportion amounts to 100% of the weight of the milk of which they are composed”.

“The indication of origin must also correspond to the place of processing that gave the foodstuff its essential characteristics”.

Therefore, economic actors who use such signs must be particularly careful that their foodstuffs respect the criteria defined by the law.

It is in this context that the famous TOBLERONE® chocolate bar, which will no longer be manufactured mainly in Switzerland, is forced to remove the representation of the Matterhorn from its packaging.