Poundland to redesign its copycat Toblerone bar after Mondelēz WINS legal battle
The bargain supermarket has been caught up in a legal battle after its Twin Peaks chocolate bar has been accused of looking too much like a Toblerone
POUNDLAND has been told it must change the design of its new Twin Peaks chocolate bar after losing a legal battle with Toblerone makers Mondelēz.
The budget store's design features two peaks in each segment, rather than one like the Swiss chocolate Toblerone bar.
Poundland was due to start selling the £1 sweet treat in July but was stopped when the Swiss branch of the US brand Mondelēz made a legal complaint about the shape of the bar.
Toblerones used to be one of Poundland's biggest sellers but sales dropped dramatically since they became a victim of shrinkflation last year.
Mondelēz increased the gap between the peaks to reduce the weight of the chocolate bars from 170g to 150g but the price stayed the same.
Poundland's version of the bars are 180g and offers more bang for your buck.
The budget retailer argued that "no member of the relevant public would mistake one for the other" because its packaging, name, taste and shape were different.
But Toblerone insisted that customers could be confused by the pyramid-shape chocolate, the gold packaging and the Matterhorn mountain image on the front of the Poundland copycat.
Poundland - who has already made half a million of the chocolate bars - have been told that they are allowed to sell them as long as they're in distinctive packaging.
These will be sold in stores from December.
The budget chain are planning on relaunching the bars in the New Year with a different shape but that will still weigh 180g.
Despite the three-month long legal battle, Mondelēz insists that there's no bad blood between the brands.
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A spokesperson said: "Poundland is an important and valued customer of Mondelez International so we are glad that we have reached a solution for their Twin Peaks bar that is clearly different from Toblerone."
You'll still be able to buy a bar of Toblerone chocolate from the pound store alongside its own-branded version.
A spokesperson for Poundland said: "Following positive discussions, we can confirm Poundland and Mondelēz have come to an agreement that allows both businesses to put their ‘Twin Peaks’ dispute behind them."
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