Millions of chocolate lovers warned cost of iconic bar could SOAR as Nestle admits ‘challenges’ lie ahead
MILLIONS of chocolate lovers have been warned of price rises for an iconic bar.
Nestle has blamed a rise in costs for both cocoa and coffee as it today warned of having to pass on the increase to shoppers.
It comes despite Nestle today announcing it had achieved better than expected sales growth.
However, the full-year results also detailed how profit margins would be narrower this year.
The brand cited potential increases to its Nescafe coffee and KitKats, both of which are already at record-high prices.
Nestle has also hiked the price of its Purina dog food to offset inflation.
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But a rise in input costs is likely to leave the Swiss food giant having to pass on the increase onto supermarket shelves.
The company's CEO Laurent Freixe said: "It is clear that when it comes to coffee and chocolate as input costs further increase, you should see some pricing, but it is the same story, we will try first to mitigate… the impact of input costs and price right."
The firm's CFO Anna Manz added: "We are taking more price in 2025, so this may give rise to more customer challenges."
It comes after Mr Freixe unveiled cost-saving measures in November last year.
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This included an an increase in advertising spending focused on popular products and a reorganisation of Nestle's water business.
He added: "The plans that we laid out at our capital market day are materialising.
"It takes time to move the needle. You will see Nestle moving in the right direction."
Shares in the group soared to around six per cent on Thursday.
Its wide range of products also include Maggi bouillon cubes, Gerber baby food and Nesquik chocolate-flavoured drink.
But customers have been reacting to the price hikes by turning to cheaper products as Nestle raised prices to cope with inflation.
Mr Freixe added: "In a challenging macroeconomic context and soft consumer environment, we achieved a solid performance in 2024 in line with our latest guidance."
It comes after Nestle discontinued its Vegan bar from shelves due to dwindling demand last month.
A spokesperson for Nestle said: "Unfortunately, global demand has been reducing to the point that production was making manufacturing more and more complex and we have now made the difficult decision to discontinue the product."
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But the brand did also launch a new KitKat flavour that has never been seen before.
The new hazelnut flavoured chocolate bar has been spotted on shelves in Sainsbury's.
The chocolate bars fans would most love to see make a return
In 2022 a survey commissioned by Jackpotjoy asked 2,000 participants which retro chocolates they'd most like to have in their 'dream selection box'. The top 10 were:
- Cadbury Dream – 8%
- Cadbury Marble – 7.9%
- Cadbury Aztec – 7.8%
- Cadbury Time Out – 6.9%
- Milky Way Crispy Rolls – 6.2%
- Kit Kat Caramac – 5.9%
- Mars Delight – 5.7%
- Cadbury Fuse – 5.6%
- Cadbury Astro – 5.3%
- Fox’s Echo – 3.6%