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CHOC SHOCK
Cadbury has made a major change to Christmas selection boxes – and chocolate fans will be outraged
It's not the latest Cadbury change to leave shoppers outraged
CHOCOLATE fans will be doubly disappointed this Christmas as Cadbury has shrunk its classic Santa Selection Box by ditching the Double Decker.
The 1970s and 80s favourite chocolate bar has been replaced with a caramel Freddo, which is around half the size.
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This year’s box weighs just 125g, down by 14 per cent from 145g last year. It is more than a quarter smaller than the box was in 2018, when it was 169g.
But the price has increased.
In 2021 - when it was bigger - it was available in supermarkets for between £1.25 and £2.
This year, it costs between £1.75 and £2.75 at the UK’s four main supermarket chains.
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Consumer expert Martyn James described the exchange of the Double Decker for a caramel Freddo as an “outrageous example of shrinkflation” – where companies sell a smaller product for the same or a higher price.
“A Freddo is the lowliest of chocs and is not a fair swap for the majestic Double Decker,” he said, adding that Cadbury had “ruined” the Christmas classic.
This is not the first time that Cadbury's has left fans furious this year after it made changes to its chocolates.
Shoppers were in uproar in April after noticing Dairy Milk orange bars have been axed from shelves.
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Meanwhile, in August the popular Darkmilk bar suddenly vanished from supermarket shelves.
And last month it announced that Festive Friends will not be returning this Christmas.
It follows the decision not to bring back the Cadbury Caramel Bunnies this easter.
The former British brand Cadbury’s - now owned by US food giant Mondelez - came under fire in 2018 for removing the Fudge from the Santa selection box and replacing it with an Oreo bar.
But since U-turning on the move and reintroducing the family favourite in 2019, it has made repeated changes to the box which have left customers short-changed.
The latest move is thought to be the fourth time in six years the chocolate maker has cut the size of its traditional selection box.
In 2020, it shrunk the size of the Fudge in the box by 12 per cent.
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Then a year later it cut the size of the Wispa and Double Decker bars, meaning customers got 24g less chocolate, compared with 2018.
Now the 37.3g Double Decker is gone completely, with the replacement caramel Freddo weighing it at just 19.5g.
Overall, there is 44g less chocolate in the box this year than there was in 2018.
It now includes small versions of Fudge, Wispa and Crunchie, a treatsize pack of mini buttons and small Dairy Milk bar and the caramel Freddo.
A 180g bar of Dairy Milk contains more chocolate and costs less at most supermarkets, at between £2 and £2.50.
A spokesperson for Mondelez said: "We understand the economic pressures that consumers continue to face and any changes to our product sizes is a last resort for our business.
"However, as a food producer, we are continuing to experience significantly higher input costs across our supply chain, with ingredients such as cocoa and sugar, which are widely used in our products, costing far more than they have done previously.
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"Meanwhile, other costs like energy, packaging, and transport, also remain high. This means that our products continue to be much more expensive to make and while we have absorbed these costs where possible, we still face considerable challenges.
“As a result, we have had to make a carefully considered change to the recommended price alongside a small weight reduction to the Cadbury Santa Chocolate Selection Box (125g), so that we can continue to provide consumers with the brands they love, without compromising on the great taste and quality they expect."
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.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
Plus, you can join our Facebook group to share your tips and stories
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