Nestlé will be forced to drop the Swiss cross from 80 products manufactured in Switzerland following a new law on 'Swissness' set to come into force in January next year. "This is very unfortunate," the head of Nestlé Switzerland has said.
Passed in 2013, the legislation sets minimum thresholds for ingredients of Swiss origin and will come into force on 1 January 2017.
"Swiss products and services enjoy an excellent reputation both domestically and abroad, which is why Swiss indications of source are being used with increasing popularity,” says the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property. “Unfortunately, they are also being used more frequently by free riders

"The 'Swissness' legislation strengthens protection for the 'Made in Switzerland' designation and the Swiss cross. It helps prevent and curb their misuse, so that the value of the 'Swiss' brand can be preserved in the long term.”
Nestlé said it analysed all 'Swissness-relevant' products - around 650 recipes in total - in anticipation of the law. "The time invested in implementing the new Swissness law was considerable," a spokesperson said.
Most products complied with the regulation while others required small recipe tweaks. However, a total of 80 products, such as Thomy mayonnaise, home baking brand Leisi and certain Frisco ice creams, will lose the Swiss cross.

'Very unfortunate'

The CEO of Nestlé Switzerland Christophe Cornu told Swiss-German newspaper Schweiz am Sonntag this is "very unfortunate" as the products are manufactured using the same recipe at the same place.
“For our Thomy products, we only use free-range eggs and need a total of 34 million eggs a year. This quantity cannot be covered by Switzerland
Cornu has been head of Nestlé Switzerland for just over a year.
alone. That is why we have to cooperate with European suppliers that meet the Swiss quality standards," he said.
Cornu said the company will keep its factories in Basel, where Thomy products are made, and Wangen. “Therefore, I am confident that the Leisi and Thomy customers are loyal,” he said.
However he added: “Swiss customers are very demanding, they expect high quality and like to try new products. And they want local production. Authenticity plays an important role.”