Results: The History of Chocolate in Switzerland * Part Twenty-One* TOBLERONE, HISTORY AND SECRETS

In 1867, a certain Jean Tobler started working at Kuentz, a pastry shop on the Bernese Marktgasse. His beginnings were promising, but the owner of the shop soon fell ill. Jean decided to take over the establishment. If this decision seems very ambitious, the next steps will be even more so! Instead of continuing to run the business, he decided to move to a new building in Mittelstrasse and renamed it Confiserie Spéciale.

The chocolates were made from raw materials purchased from other manufacturers. We are not really into avant-garde production, but the demand is growing! Business was so good that the Bernese decided to launch his own chocolate factory under the name Fabrique de Chocolat Berne, Tobler & Cie. It was the beginning of a new family adventure, but not yet the one of the emblematic cones.

Ten long years will pass before the discovery that will give a new direction to this small business, undeniably changing the chocolate world. It will be made by the new generation of the company and another Tobler, Theodor, son of Jean. At that time, Emil Baumann, Theodor's cousin and head of production in the family business, brings back a strange product from his trip to Metz. White nougat, which he discovered on the spot! You have to taste it! And he is right, sweet and crunchy, the delicacy immediately seduces Theodor. And why not integrate this white paste in the chocolate?

what an idea to mix two desserts! After tests in the family kitchen, the ideal proportions between beans, milk, sugar, honey, egg white and almonds were perfected. It was time to commercialize. So in 1908, this innovative marriage was produced under the name of Toblerone. Finally, the recipe is quite simple, but paradoxically will never be equaled, a bit like Nutella, obvious ingredients, inimitable mixture. But that's another story, let's go back to Switzerland. Besides, the name Toblerone is an ingenious association of what made the success of the product: the family name Tobler and the ingredient torrone, Italian name for honey and almond nougat. Thus began the more than one hundred year old adventure of the first chocolate bar in history!

To determine the origins of this particular shape that has become so emblematic. Paradoxically, the truth does not exist, but there are two main theories. According to the first, the pyramidal shape recalls the Swiss landscape and in particular the Matterhorn peak, culminating at 4,478 meters. If today this interpretation seems obvious, at the time of creation the reflection of the mountain did not yet decorate the packaging, so no comparison is possible. Moreover, there is no bear either, but an eagle. But we will come back to this. The second theory, more intriguing, refers to a show at the Parisian music hall Folies Bergère, which culminated with a human pyramid, which would have strongly marked the confectioner. So it's up to you to decide. What is certain is that this shape, which has even been patented, will contribute greatly to the international recognition of the brand!

A self-made man, Theodor Tobler transformed his parents' small confectionery into a major employer in Bern. By 1920, some 2,000 people were working for the small pyramids. It was also at this time that the company decided to further anchor itself in its Bernese origins, replacing the eagle with the city's heraldic animal, the bear. But following the lines of the pyramid, after this peak of success and recognition, the business sinks into the trough.

Finally, the crisis of the 1930s gets the better of Theodor Tobler, who puts the company into debt, before being replaced by a decision of the Board of Directors. Although his career came to an abrupt end, the orphan Toblerone had to continue his evolution, moving from one company to another. First associated with Suchard in the 1970s, the group was finally acquired by the Swiss-German industrialist Klaus Jacobs. The new Jacobs Suchard was then bought by the American Philip Morris. Today, Toblerone operates alongside LU, Milka, Oreo and Côte d'or within Modelez, a food multinational managed by the Philip Morris group.