Toblerone chocolate makers have a massive beef with their British rivals, Twin Peaks. And it is as dramatic as they come.
You might not expect the candy bar industry to be rife with drama, but you'd be surprised.
You know those Twix commercials featuring epic feuds between Left Twix and Right Twix? I always assumed it was a joke, but a real-life version of that is making me question everything I know and love about popular chocolate bars. Fortunately, they still taste just as good -- I checked.
It all started when U.K. discount chain Poundland allegedly pounced on an older model of Toblerone, the iconic Swiss chocolate bar with little Alps-level mountains, reports The New York Times. Though Toblerone chocolate now comes with wider valleys between each peak, it retains the distinctive and unusual shape that they said Poundland copied with their new Twin Peaks bar, which they said is modeled after two hills in the English county of Shropshire, near the Wales border.
The English candy is cheaper and more substantial. It was originally going to be packaged in gold and red, just like Toblerone.
They initially intended to launch the product in the summer, but the Swiss chocolatier brought about some legal challenges, saying that the bar was a clear knockoff.
"[Toblerone is] one of the most loved, unique, best-value Swiss-made chocolate products in the world," said Mondelez International, the American owners of Toblerone. "Its high quality special Swiss recipe and triangular peaks have been delighting people around the world since 1908, and we believe will continue to do so for future generations of chocolate lovers too."
Meanwhile, Poundland maintained that their product brought "a distinctive British flavor compared to Toblerone's Swiss chocolate nougat."
Months later, the ugly legal battle has seemingly come to an end, with Poundland agreeing to change their packaging to blue and gold and tweak the chocolate's shape to ensure that it more closely resembles the namesake peaks.
"Although it's been a longer climb than we expected, we're pleased customers will finally get to taste our Twin Peaks -- 180 grams of delicious, British-made chocolate, for just [$1.35]," Poundland said in a statement posted to their website.