Nestlé has reformulated its bars due to soaring cocoa costs, with the products no longer containing enough cocoa mass to be legally described as chocolate
Nestlé has reformulated Toffee Crisp and Blue Riband in a cost-cutting measure that means the treats can no longer legally be called chocolate, The Grocer has reported. Under UK regulations, milk chocolate must contain at least 20% cocoa solids and 20% milk solids to earn that designation.
But Nestlé has altered the recipes for both Toffee Crisp and Blue Riband, reducing cocoa mass whilst increasing vegetable fats. As a result, packaging now refers to a “chocolate flavour coating” instead of “milk chocolate” – a change implemented in recent weeks, The Grocer reported.
This follows recent revelations that Club and Penguin, both manufactured by Pladis, the firm behind McVitie’s, were reformulated, resulting in their coating being downgraded to merely “chocolate flavour”.
This has forced the retirement of Club biscuit’s legendary slogan: “If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit, join our Club”, in favour of the less memorable: “If you like a lot of biscuit in your break, join our Club.” Manufacturers are desperately trying to manage soaring cocoa prices without significantly increasing shop prices.
A Nestlé spokesperson said soaring cocoa prices as the driving force behind the decision. “We’d like to assure shoppers that these changes have been carefully developed and sensory tested with taste and quality remaining a top priority,” she said.
“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.”
Whilst the confectionery giant continues “to be more efficient and absorb increasing costs where possible”, it is “sometimes necessary to adjust the recipes of some of our products”, the spokesperson explained.
The revelation follows Nestlé’s decision to rebrand Kit Kat Chunky White at the beginning of 2025, replacing “white chocolate” with simply “white” on packaging.
On the issue of Clubs and Penguins Pladis said in a statement: “We made some changes to McVitie’s Penguin and Club earlier this year, where we are using a chocolate flavour coating with cocoa mass, rather than a chocolate coating. Sensory testing with consumers shows the new coatings deliver the same great taste as the originals.”