Thomy the tube adds sizzle to Swiss sausages

Thomy is seen here in the latest TV advert

The Swiss Thomy brand, known for its distinctive aluminium tubes containing either mustard or mayonnaise, is still going strong after more than 75 years.

Barbecues and many outdoor events in Switzerland would not be complete without Thomy mustard to flavour the popular Bratwurst (sausage), or mayonnaise to add to a sandwich or salad.

“The brand is known by 99 per cent of the Swiss and more than 2.3 million households use it regularly. They are really staple products in a Swiss household,” François-Xavier Perroud, spokesman of parent company Nestlé, told swissinfo.

“Over the years, it’s become a kind of a symbol for a great number of occasions, for example at shooting festivals in Switzerland or Swiss wrestling competitions.”

Thomy, which is produced in Basel, can trace its roots back to 1930 when the brand was registered as Thomi’s Mustard on May 23.

Special packaging

The founder of the Thomi + Franck company that made it, Hans Thomi, quickly realised he had to have a special packaging for his mustard to set it apart from the competition.

Enter the aluminium tube that gave the mustard better conservation properties.

The “i” in the name was dropped and replaced by a “y” because Hans Thomi felt it was better for advertising purposes and was visually more attractive.

“I think Thomy answered a kind of need from society. You needed transportable mustard and mayonnaise for all out of home consumption… and you also needed it in the home,” Perroud said.

“It is a relatively economical, practical way of having these products available all year round.”

Successful advertising

One of the reasons why the brand is so well known is the successful advertising that has surrounded it.

Thomy is not just a lifeless tube but an animated character who had sausages and meat crying out for his attention in television advertising campaigns of the 1980s and 1990s. These featured a jingle just about every Swiss can remember (see video from 1992).

The character resurfaced this year in a new publicity campaign, this time featuring his new screw cap at a barbecue (see video). It begs the question why such a household name needed publicity.

As Perroud explains a branded goods manufacturer has to remind people every now and then that the product is around, even if it is the clear market leader.

“If you don’t make an effort to go back to the audience, to tell them again and again that the product is there, you run the risk of having it displaced by the competition and less favoured by the consumers.”

Mustard blue

Traditionally – and to catch the customer’s eye in the shops – Thomy mustard is sold mainly in the blue tube, while the mayonnaise is in the yellow.

Perroud makes no bones of the fact that the mustard is as he puts it “clearly not technologically super complicated”.

“If you come right down to brass tacks, it’s a simple product. We know about all the famous French mustards and that there are specialists who will drive 200km to find a little grocery store where they can buy a particular jar of mustard.

“But let’s face it, for run-of-the-mill consumption, Thomy mustard is an ideal product,” he said.

swissinfo, Robert Brookes

Mustard and Mayonnaise:

Around 3,000 tonnes of mustard and 6,600 tonnes of mayonnaise are consumed in Switzerland every year, according to figures from 2006.

This is equivalent to about 500g of mustard and 1kg of mayonnaise per head of the population.

Thomy is the market leader, selling an annual 1,500 tonnes of mustard and 3,700 tons of mayonnaise in countless millions of tubes.