Monday, January 12, 2015
Outrage as Cadbury change their crème egg
Being of a certain age I am often lamenting the loss, rebranding or downgrading of much of the confectionery I grew up sampling. I was particularly exercised by the renaming of Marathon as Snickers, an outrage I have still not really recovered from.
Of course all confectioners are trying to cut costs by changing their product in ways that they hope consumers will not notice, however Cadburys appear to have gone too far by tampering with the longstanding formula for their crème eggs.
According to the Telegraph, not only are there now five rather than six eggs in each box, but the sugary fondant filling is now surrounded not by Dairy Milk, Cadbury's most celebrated chocolate brand, but by an unspecified milk chocolate. Andrew Baker explains:
The truth is that the price of cocoa is rising, and major manufacturers are trying every trick in the book to maintain their profits as their raw materials become more expensive.
So for, example, the shape of a Dairy Milk bar has changed. Dairy Milk has acquired new sub-brands, as the chocolate is augmented with cheaper ingredients such as chunks of biscuit - Dairy Milk Oreos, Dairy Milk Popcorn, Dairy Milk Golden Biscuit - and similar tactics are now being applied to Creme Eggs. Fewer Eggs and "different" milk chocolate all amount to the same thing - extracting the same or improved profits while employing less expensive raw materials.
The solution is in the hands of the consumer: for the same price as a box of new-style Creme Eggs, a shade under £2, one can buy a slab of infinitely better chocolate made by someone who cares about the ingredients. It won't be full of sugar, and it won't bring back the past, but it will make the present taste a whole lot better.
I think I should just admit defeat and give up chocolate altogether.
Of course all confectioners are trying to cut costs by changing their product in ways that they hope consumers will not notice, however Cadburys appear to have gone too far by tampering with the longstanding formula for their crème eggs.
According to the Telegraph, not only are there now five rather than six eggs in each box, but the sugary fondant filling is now surrounded not by Dairy Milk, Cadbury's most celebrated chocolate brand, but by an unspecified milk chocolate. Andrew Baker explains:
The truth is that the price of cocoa is rising, and major manufacturers are trying every trick in the book to maintain their profits as their raw materials become more expensive.
So for, example, the shape of a Dairy Milk bar has changed. Dairy Milk has acquired new sub-brands, as the chocolate is augmented with cheaper ingredients such as chunks of biscuit - Dairy Milk Oreos, Dairy Milk Popcorn, Dairy Milk Golden Biscuit - and similar tactics are now being applied to Creme Eggs. Fewer Eggs and "different" milk chocolate all amount to the same thing - extracting the same or improved profits while employing less expensive raw materials.
The solution is in the hands of the consumer: for the same price as a box of new-style Creme Eggs, a shade under £2, one can buy a slab of infinitely better chocolate made by someone who cares about the ingredients. It won't be full of sugar, and it won't bring back the past, but it will make the present taste a whole lot better.
I think I should just admit defeat and give up chocolate altogether.
