If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit … look away now | Food & drink industry

If you like a lot of chocolate in your biscuits you can’t do this anymore. Join our club or buy a penguinLunchbox favorites have reduced the amount of cocoa in their recipes so much that they are now just “chocolate flavor.”

Two snacks, both produced by McVitie’s, changed their recipes earlier this year due to rising cocoa prices; This has led manufacturers to try a number of different tactics to keep prices low.

First reported by trade magazine The Grocer, Club and Penguin can no longer be described as chocolate biscuits because they contain more palm oil and shea butter than cocoa.

“We made some changes to McVitie’s Penguin and Club earlier this year, where we use a chocolate-flavored coating containing cocoa mass instead of a chocolate coating. Sensory testing with consumers shows that the new coatings offer the same great taste as the originals,” McVitie’s owner Pladis said in a statement.

The classic advertising slogan indicating the Club’s chocolate content is no longer used, but is replaced by the following expression: “If you like a lot of biscuits during your break, join our club.”

The company already had other snacks in what can only be described as “chocolate flavor,” including the Mini BN and BN Mini Rolls flavors.

“By adjusting formulations only where necessary, we are committed to delivering great-tasting snacks while minimizing the impact of rising costs on consumers,” Pladis said.

Cocoa prices have risen after poor harvests over the past three years in key growing regions of Ghana and Ivory Coast, amid extreme temperatures and unusual rainfall patterns caused by the climate crisis.

The added cost has led manufacturers to use a variety of tactics, such as making bars and biscuits smaller and reducing cocoa content, to keep the prices shoppers pay low.

Prices have more than doubled in the past year, reaching a record close to $11 (£8.20) per kilogram in January. But in recent months, these prices have fallen, driven by positive news about this year’s harvest and reports of falling demand as producers and shoppers turn to alternatives or reduce consumption.

KitKat White and McVitie’s white digestifs can no longer be marketed as “white chocolate” products because they do not contain a minimum of 20% cocoa butter; however, these recipes changed before this year.

The old favorite, Wagon Wheel, has long been described as “chocolate flavored” because its coating does not meet the cocoa level to be defined as chocolate.

A spokesman for Nestlé, which makes KitKat, said: “We regularly review our recipes to balance quality, affordability and sustainability. “Like every manufacturer, we have seen significant increases in the cost of cocoa in recent years, making our products much more expensive to produce.

“As always, we continue to become more efficient and cover increased costs where possible. To continue to deliver great value to customers, it may sometimes be necessary to adjust the recipes of some of our products. Retail pricing is at the discretion of individual retailers.

“The ‘covering’ description in KitKat White is accurate and consistent with describing the ingredients used in the recipe. There are no currently planned changes to KitKat product identifiers based on existing recipes.”