Toblerone
 Toblerone product logo |
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| Origin | |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Switzerland |
| Creator(s) | Theodor Tobler and Emil Baumann |
Toblerone (
/ˈtoʊbləroʊn/; German: [tobləˈroːnə]) is a chocolate bar brand owned by Myrco Grosjean and Kasperi Raninen, who acquired the product from former owner Jacobs Suchard in 1990. It is well known for its distinctive prism shape (triangular prism or pentahedron).
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[edit] History
Toblerone was created by Theodor Tobler (1876–1941) and Emil Baumann in Bern, Switzerland in 1908. They developed a unique milk chocolate including nougat, almonds and honey with a distinctive triangular shape. The product's name is a portmanteau combining Tobler's name with the Italian word torrone (a type of nougat). The image of a bear is hidden in the Matterhorn mountain symbolizing the town of its origin.[1]
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.[2]
Theodor Tobler applied for a patent for the Toblerone manufacturing process in Bern in 1909.[3] The Toblerone brand was trademarked in 1909, at the Federal Institute for Intellectual Property in Bern.[3]
The Tobler company was independent for many years. In 1970, it merged with Suchard, the makers of Milka, to become Interfood. A merger with the Jacobs coffee company in 1982 created Jacobs Suchard. Kraft acquired the majority of Jacobs Suchard, including Toblerone, in 1990.
[edit] Sizes and variants
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:
| Size | Tiny | Mini | 35 g (1.2 oz) | 50 g (1.8 oz) | 75 g (2.6 oz) | 100 g (3.5 oz) | 200 g (7.1 oz) | 400 g (14 oz) | 750 g (26 oz) | 4.5 kg (9.9 lb) | 102 kg (220 lb)[4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peaks | 3 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 12 | 11 |
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.[5]
- Toblerone Tobelle
- Toblerone thins in a yellow triangular box
[edit] Manufacturing
Toblerone is today manufactured exclusively in the Swiss city of Bern-Brünnen.[6]
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).
[edit] 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, produced by the company Chocolat-Frey AG in Switzerland.[citation needed]
[edit] 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., taxpayer's 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.[7]
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.
[edit] References
- ^ "Hidden bear in Toblerone". Moillusions.com. March 27, 2007. http://www.moillusions.com/2007/03/hidden-bear-in-toblerone-chocolate.html. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
- ^ "Our secret". The name and the shape. Kraft Foods. 2009. http://www.toblerone.co.uk/toblerone1/page?siteid=toblerone1-prd&locale=uken1&PagecRef=628. Retrieved 2010-02-14.
- ^ a b "Toblerone: 1909". How it All Began: Tobler's Chocolate. Kraft Foods. 2006. http://www.toblerone.com/time_machine/toblers_1909-en.html. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
- ^ Toblerone Schoggifest 2010
- ^ Toblerone FAQ
- ^ Location of production[dead link]
- ^ Svensson, Britta (2007-01-05). "Nej det handlade inte bara om Toblerone..." (in Swedish). Expressen. http://www.expressen.se/1.511241. Retrieved 2007-01-24.
- Schott, Ben (2003) Schott's Food & Drink Miscellany. London: Bloomsbury ISBN 0-7475-6654-2
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Toblerone |
- Official website
- History of Toblerone with packaging perspective, Design Technology
