Dive Brief:
- Mondelēz International plans to invest about $79 million (or roughly 65 million Swiss Francs) in its Toblerone manufacturing facility in Bern, Switzerland. Toblerone was founded in Switzerland in 1908, and Bern is where around 90% of the product is currently manufactured.
- The snacking giant, the No. 2 player in the $134 billion global chocolate segment, said the investment underscores Toblerone's ambitions in the premium space and efforts to “build on its global awareness, uniqueness and leading position” in world travel retail.
- While cocoa prices have declined in recent weeks after reaching a record high in 2024, they remain elevated compared to their historical averages. This has led to higher prices and resulted in consumers cutting back on demand for some chocolate offerings.
Dive Insight:
Despite high cocoa costs and ongoing uncertainty over tariffs, Mondelēz isn’t losing sight of the shopper’s unwavering love of chocolate.
The Bern plant, which already produces 4 million Toblerone products per production day, will receive a “state-of-the-art” production line to expand capacity amid growing demand for premium chocolate. It’s also upgrading the chocolate and nougat-making facility, site infrastructure and logistics.
Mondelēz called the move “one of the most important investments” within its chocolate European production network during the last decade.
Mondelēz wants to become the No. 1 player in chocolate by 2030, and its 117-year-old triangular-shaped brand plays a key role in helping achieve it.
Dirk Van De Put, Mondelēz’s CEO, told Food Dive in February he believes that consumers’ love of chocolate and the strength of the company’s portfolio — which also includes Cadbury and Milka — will help the company navigate this period of volatility.
Chocolate makes up approximately one-third of Mondelēz’s business, with 2024 sales reaching $11.2 billion. Volumes only dipped slightly, underscoring chocolate's resilience, even with price increases of about 10%.
“We still believe very strongly in chocolate,” Van de Put said at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York’s annual gathering in Florida. He added that Mondelēz will emerge from the ongoing cocoa volatility “stronger as a company.”
Toblerone is not the only Mondelēz brand that's trying to ramp up its presence in premium chocolate.
Mondelēz and Lotus Bakeries partnered in 2024 to develop chocolate products that combine the taste and texture of Biscoff with Mondelēz’s Cadbury, Milka and other chocolate brands. They’ve already launched a Cadbury chocolate bar with small pieces of Biscoff inside, and a Milka product is expected to follow later this year.
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