CHOCOLATE fans are only just realising there is a hidden symbol in the Toblerone logo.
Surprised shoppers are just finding out that there’s a sneaky secret hidden in the triangular treat’s packaging.
AlamyToblerone fans are only just realised there’s a bear hidden in the logo[/caption]
There’s been a bear hidden in the Toblerone logo
It comes as the brand’s US owner Mondelez revealed that the image of the Matterhorn mountain is to be dropped from its logo.
This lead fans to speculate if the bear hidden within the image of the Matterhorn will be lost too.
But some said they never even realised that the creature was hidden in the design.
One shopper Twitter user said: “I must have been earing Toblerone for half a century but only today did I realise is not just of the Matterhorn, but contains a secret bear.”
Another added: “I was today years old when I saw the bear in the Toblerone logo.”
While a third wrote: “I had never noticed the bear before… and I’ve done a LOT of Toblerone research over the years.”
Since 1908, Toblerone has been produced in the Swiss capital, Berne, whose heraldic animal – a bear – is hidden in the Matterhorn.
But the mountain is to be removed as some of the chocolate bar’s production moves outside of Switzerland.
Toblerone’s pyramid-shaped pieces, which are studded with almond and hone nougat, are intended to resemble the Swiss peak.
The image will now be replaced with a more generic alpine summit.
In a statement, Mondelez said: “An evolved visual identity is being unveiled through updated packaging that includes a distinctive new Toblerone typeface and logo that draw further inspiration from the Toblerone archives and the inclusion of our founder, Tobler’s, signature.”
Last year, Mondelez announced plans to move some Toblerone production to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia,
The packaging decision is in line with Swiss legislation that protects items claiming to be from the country under the Swissness Act.
For foodstuffs to market themselves as “made in Switzerland”, 80% of the raw ingredients must be sourced from the country and the majority of processing take place there.
For milk and milk-based products, the required quota is 100%, with exceptions for ingredients that cannot be sourced from Switzerland, such as cocoa.
National symbols are not allowed to be used to promote milk-based products that fall short of these requirements.
The name Toblerone is said to be a mix of the surname of Theodor Tobler, the bar’s inventor, with torrone, a chewy almond nougat sweet popular in Spain and Italy.
In 2016, Mondelez faced uproar after it increased the gap between the peaks of its UK bars as part of cost-saving measures to reduce the weight of the bar from 170g to 150g.
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