Farmers are alarmed Toblerone chocolate soon without Swiss milk?

Toblerone may soon no longer be produced with Swiss milk - but with foreign milk powder. This would be a blow for Swiss milk producers, warns the industry, as it concerns almost 40 million liters of milk that the chocolate manufacturer purchases annually.

The US chocolate and food manufacturer Mondelez apparently no longer wants to use Swiss milk for the production of Toblerone from the end of the year. Only the chocolate sold in Switzerland will still be produced with local milk powder, according to Blick, citing industry insiders. According to these people, there are indications that Swiss milk will no longer be used for a large part of Toblerone production in future. All Toblerone produced for markets outside Switzerland will apparently soon be made with foreign milk powder.

Swiss milk producers are alarmed. "If this actually happens, it could possibly contribute to unrest on the Swiss milk market," said Stephan Hagenbuch, Director of the Swiss Dairy Farmers' Association. Specifically, it is about 40 million liters of milk per year that would no longer have a buyer, said Stefan Kohler, Managing Director of the milk industry organization. Swiss milk processed into milk powder is one of the most important ingredients in Toblerone.

Mondelez is reportedly planning to switch from Swiss to foreign milk powder by the end of the year, according to the article. However, it has long been suspected that some Toblerone chocolates may already be produced with foreign milk powder in the Bern factory. However, this could not be proven.

Matterhorn lost

Last year, the company, which is based in the US state of Illinois, outsourced part of its Toblerone production to Slovakia. Because the chocolate is no longer produced exclusively in Bern but also abroad, the brand had to do without the name "Swiss milk chocolate" and the Matterhorn on the packaging.