First Toffee Deluxe now Toblerone: The much-loved treats axed or shrunk after foreign takeovers

BRITAIN’S most iconic chocolates are under attack from foreign firms.

This morningToblerone faced a fierce backlash from fans after increasing the gaps between their iconic triangle chunky and reducing the weight of their 400g and 170g bars.

Furious customers took to social media to brand the decision “stupid” and the “wrong decision”.

Toblerone have released a statement on their Facebook , explaining that the company had to either change the look of the bars  raise the price.

But this isn’t the only change to a sweet treat which has left a bitter taste.

Nestle took over Rowntree in 1988, while US company Mondelez International – a division of Kraft Foods – has owned Cadbury since 2010.

Here, JOSIE GRIFFITHS looks at how our favourite chocs have felt the bite . . .

AXED

QUALITY STREET’S TOFFEE DELUXE

Earlier in the year it was announced that Quality Street’s Toffee Deluxe would be replaced.

The Toffee Deluxe is set to be replaced by the new Honeycomb Crunch, with Swiss manufacturer Nestle claiming that the move is in response to complaints that there are too many similar chocolates in a box.

But fans reckon the high price of toffee is the real reason – and Twitter users are less than impressed with the controversial change.

Many claimed that “Christmas is ruined” as a result of the decision, whilst a  emerged demanding that Nestle bring back the toffee treat.

Quality Street will also remove the paper menu for sweets, with names and pictures of the sweets appearing on the side of the octagonal tub instead.

And the boxes will also be 30g lighter in weight this year because the five honeycomb sweets are lighter than the hefty Toffee Deluxe – although the number of sweets will remain the same.

BOURNVILLE

Cadbury sparked outrage in 2013 by getting rid of Bournville from its Heroes box and replacing it with Toblerone.

The dark chocolate bar has 36 per cent cocoa, making it more costly to produce than most other brands which have 25 per cent.

CHOCOLATE COINS

Cadbury ruined Christmas when it discontinued Chocolate Coins in 2014.

It argued the treats weren’t profitable because supermarkets sell their own, cheaper versions.

CADBURY DREAM

The white chocolate bar used to feature heavily during ad breaks on Coronation Street, but it’s no longer in the UK.

Like Bournville, it was part of the Heroes selection – but is now only available overseas.

CHANGED

CADBURY CREME EGG

Britain was left shell-shocked when Cadbury announced it was changing its Creme Egg recipe last year.

Easter sales plummeted after the rich Dairy Milk chocolate previously used was replaced with a cheaper alternative.

SHRUNK

YORKIE

This is a victim of Swiss shrinkflation. The favourite from Yorkshire was recently reduced from six chunks per bar to five.

When it launched in 1976, the Yorkie bar weighed 70g – now it’s a measly 46g.

KITKAT

KitKat Chunky bars now weigh 40g – or a whopping 8g less than they used to.

Nestle even rebranded the much-loved bars “YouTube Break” last year as part of a limited promo.

DAIRY MILK

Cadbury shrank the size of its Dairy Milk bars by curving the corners of each chunk.

The new round-edged bar weighs 45g. This is 9g less than it used to, but the chocolate bar still costs the same.