After learning his craft in Paris, Jean Tobler worked for many years in Germany and France. In 1865, he opened his own confectionary in Bern.
The shop sold mostly handmade candies with coatings made of chocolate supplied by other manufacturers. He was going through so much chocolate that it became clear it would be cheaper to make it himself.
In 1899, he and his sons founded the “Fabrique de Chocolat de Berne Tobler & Cie.” It was later expanded under his sons.
In 1908 they invented ‘Toblerone’. Tobler used the Italian ‘torrone ‘formula, a mixture of chocolate, honey, egg whites and almonds and the famous three-dimensional triangular bar was created.
Tobler used the Matterhorn Mountain to inspire the shape of his product. Fearing that a competitor would duplicate his concept, he applied for a patent on the manufacturing process in Berne.
This was granted and Toblerone became the first chocolate product in the world to be patented.
Johann Jakob Tobler
