Demise of dark Toblerone on British shelves draws sharp fan response
Manufacturers such as Mondelez, which have operations in Switzerland, have reported gains as part of the Swissco organisation
After decades on British shelves, Toblerone is set to lose its longstanding dark chocolate variety, as its manufacturer Mondelez, claims consumer tastes have evolved into other product areas, writes Neill Barston.
The decision was confirmed by the company as it heads into one of the busiest confectionery weekends of the year surrounding Easter, which remains in the top four seasonal occasions for sector sales.
Fans of the dark variety of Toblerone were quick to vent their dismay at the decision to axe the bars – which have reportedly been rapidly vanishing from stores.
Warren Turvey, commenting on X, wrote: “First Bounty, now Toblerone, the Future of Dark Chocolate is Bleak. RIP”, while fellow fan Natalie Cogle, added on the platform” “I hardly eat any chocolate, but when I do, I love a dark chocolate Toblerone. Sad Times.”
Another social media user on X, the “Backward Birder” said: “Mondelēz, you are beyond the pale. First you mess with the recipe. Then you cut the size by 10% but still put the price up. Then you make it near-impossible to find Dark Toblerone. Now you say ‘Nobody’s buying Dark, so we’re getting rid of it.”
According to a statement from the US-owned business, the company – which produces the bulk of Toblerone bars from its Swiss manufacturing site, it had been ‘a difficult decision’ to wind-up the 360g dark Toblerone for UK consumers – though it did not confirm whether this was the case for other regions.
It also comes as cocoa prices have continued at comparably high levels – reaching $12,000 a tonne on Futures markets this January, meaning that product ranges that are by definition higher in cocoa requirement, are less viable to produce on a financial level.
As previously reported by Confectionery Production, other factors remain at play, including the emergence of ‘megatrend’ items such as Dubai chocolate that have hogged the limelight over the past year, meaning less attention being paid to more specialist offerings.
Notably, export costs to the UK from mainland Europe have increased significantly since the UK’s Brexit decision, which is likely to have been a factor in the decision to call time on the dark Toblerone.
The issue of pricing has also continued to hit the headlines, as the demise of the famous triangular chocolate bar’s darker variety comes amid as a survey from the Which research group.
This found that Easter Egg chocolate prices across the board have risen on average 54% compared from the same period last year – as well as a continued trend for ‘shrinkflation’ of sizes being reduced.
“While we understand that this may be disappointing for some consumers, we continue to invest in Toblerone,” explained a spokesperson for Mondelez, which had previously produced its entire Toblerone range in Bern, Switzerland for nearly 125 years. But in a cost reduction measure, it moved some of that manufacturing to Bratislava, Slovakia, in 2023.
This led to a high profile case surrounding its Swiss provenance, in which the company reportedly had to adapt its Matterhorn mountain range logo in order to meet rules of origin with its new split production processes that could not guarantee exactly where its bars are now made.
