KITKAT, Club and Penguin have made a huge change to their recipes in a bid to cut down their costs, but the switch-up will leave fans furious.
Under the new change, some of chocolate.
Switch to ‘chocolate flavouring’
Penguin and Club bars now officially contain more palm and shea oil than cocoa, as the brand has switched from chocolate coating to chocolate flavour coating, according to The Grocer.
The news that will devastate chocolate enthusiasts has been confirmed by a Pladis spokesperson.
They said: “We made some changes to McVitie’s Penguin earlier this year, where we are using a chocolate flavour coating rather than a chocolate coating.”
They also confirmed that the same changes were made to Club bars earlier this year.
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The recipe change has been put down to a “business continuity issue” with their local supplier.
This led to its cocoa fat recipes to be traded out for ones that contain a “blend of fats.”
Marketing director Benazir Barlet-Batada added: “As proud custodians of biscuits and snacks that have been loved for generations, it is crucial Pladis maintains the ability to deliver high-quality products consistently.”
Changes to KitKats and Digestives
In addition to these cult-favourite bars, Nestle’s KitKat White and McVitie’s White Chocolate Digestives can no longer be marketed as chocolate products.
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UK legislation requires white chocolate to contain a minimum of 20 per cent cocoa butter.
However these beloved biscuits fail to meet that requirement.
As a result, KitKat updated its packaging to remove the word “chocolate” from the front of its white chocolate bars to comply with UK regulations.
Research shows last year saw a 200 per cent surge in global cocoa prices, which has led to confectionery brands choosing to make cuts.
American company Hershey has been quick to warn that cocoa cost increases could pose a serious threat to future profits.
A Nestlé spokesperson: “We regularly review our recipes to balance quality, affordability, and sustainability.
“Like every manufacturer, we’ve seen significant increases in the cost of cocoa over the past years making it much more expensive to manufacture our products.
“As always, we continue to be more efficient and absorb increasing costs where possible.
“To continue to offer shoppers great value, it is sometimes necessary to adjust recipes of some of our products. Retail pricing is at the discretion of individual retailers.”
“The ‘coating’ description on KitKat White is accurate and compliant to describe the ingredients used in the recipe.
“There are currently no planned changes to KitKat product descriptors given existing recipes.”
McVitie’s was also contacted for comment.
Rise in cocoa alternatives
This has led several brands to ditch cocoa entirely and instead opt for alternatives such as grape seeds, sunflower proteins and fava beans.
On the recipe change to McVitie’s White Digestives, Ms Barlet-Batada explained that sensory testing with consumers showed that the reformulation delivered “the same great taste and texture as the original”
She also maintained that they haven’t experienced any drop in sales in the wake of the switch-up.
However, data reveals that the UK’s best-selling biscuit brand has seen a drop in sales over the past year.
It has seen value sale volumes fall 5.8 per cent.
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McVitie’s analytics executive has put this drop down to own label brands rising in popularity, with the likes of M&S leading the charge.
The Sun has reached out to Nestle and Pladis for further comment.
How to save money on chocolate
We all love a bit of chocolate from now and then, but you don't have to break the bank buying your favourite bar.
Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how to cut costs…
Go own brand – if you’re not too fussed about flavour and just want to supplant your chocolate cravings, you’ll save by going for the supermarket’s own brand bars.
Shop around – if you’ve spotted your favourite variety at the supermarket, make sure you check if it’s cheaper elsewhere.
Websites like Trolley.co.uk let you compare prices on products across all the major chains to see if you’re getting the best deal.
Look out for yellow stickers – supermarket staff put yellow, and sometimes orange and red, stickers on to products to show they’ve been reduced.
They usually do this if the product is coming to the end of its best-before date or the packaging is slightly damaged.
Buy bigger bars – most of the time, but not always, chocolate is cheaper per 100g the larger the bar.
So if you’ve got the appetite, and you were going to buy a hefty amount of chocolate anyway, you might as well go bigger.
