Toblerone in Chocolate War With UK Copycat Who Stole Original Design

A UK company is capitalizing on the near-disastrous redesign of the classic Toblerone bar by making an homage to the old version, much to the chagrin of the company that popularized the ridged Swiss chocolate treat.

Over the summer, British discount grocery chain Poundland created Twin Peaks, a Toblerone copycat with a gold wrapper, red lettering, and bar that mimicked the old, chunkier design of the candy. The biggest difference here is that the ridges have a V shape cut into the top of each peak. If Toblerone’s design mimicked the contours of the Swiss Alps, Poundland argued that its bars resembled two famous peaks near the Welsh border. And, in a wise business move, this new candy weighed as much as the old Toblerone before its slimmed-down redesign — and it was cheaper than its inspiration, too.

After catching wind of the copycat, Mondelez, the company that owns Toblerone, took Poundland to court. The British chain asserted that Toblerone had lost its right to a valid trademark after the redesign, but Mondelez countered by arguing that it was still “one of the most loved, unique, best-value Swiss-made chocolate products in the world.“ The courtroom drama dragged on for nearly three months, but the two parties eventually reached an agreement: Poundland could release the bar, but with blue packaging and gold lettering, so there would be no confusion.

Poundland/Facebook

As of this week, Twin Peaks is now available at Poundland’s nearly 900 stores across the UK. The company also promises that after all 500,000 units of the original product are sold, Poundland will tweak the design of the bar so that it more accurately represents those two peaks near the Welsh border.

Presumably, this move marks the end of Toblerone’s year-long redesign debacle.

• Toblerone vs. Poundland: A Food Fight With Peaks and Troughs [NYT]
• Are These New Toblerone Bars the Biggest Disaster of 2016? [E]