Italian chocolate makers Caffarel and Domori of Piedmont, as well as Maglio chocolates of Puglia, are in trouble for being square.
At least that is what German chocolate maker Ritter claims, who first launched the square chocolate bar in 1932, when Clara Ritter suggested to her husband that they make a chocolate bar that would fit into jacket pockets without breaking.
Ritter has threatened to fine a German online chocolate seller 20,000 euro if it continues to sell square-shaped chocolate bars from other manufacturers.
The artistic director of CioccolaTò, Turin’s most important chocolate fair, argues that elemental shapes such as the square cannot be patented.
A protest is being planned at the chocolate fair, where international chocolate makers as well as the chocolate-loving public will pose in a square shape for a photo to be sent to Ritter. Billed as a “Sweet Human Square”, the photo is meant to put an end to Ritter’s very square chocolate battle.
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