Cadbury has announced it's shrinking the size of four of its chocolate bars including Wispa Gold and Double Deckers - and Twitter users are not happy.
The change, which also applies to Boost and Bournville Classic, will affect multipack bars.
The move is an attempt by the confectionary giant to tackle obesity, with the new size meaning the bars contain less than 200 calories - however the price will remain the same.
The 'shrinkflation' will spark concerns that it is a new attempt to raise prices by stealth, based on the company's record of shrinking products without offering a corresponding cut in the price.
Cadbury has announced it's shrinking the size of four of its chocolate bars including Wispa Gold (pictured) and Double Deckers
Cadbury's American parent company Mondelez International said multipacks account for the largest portion of its chocolate sales, so the reduction in bar sizes will eliminate 10 billion calories from the British market in one go, reports The Guardian.
The organisation added that is offering greater portion control options by committing to bringing all Cadbury multipack chocolate bars under 200 calories by the end of next year.
The bars will remain the same size when sold individually.
A Cadbury spokesperson said: 'The list price for these products will not be changing at this time. Retail pricing remains at the retailer's sole discretion.'
The change, which also applies to Boost and Bournville Classic, will affect multipack bars (pictured)
Cadbury's American parent company Mondelez International said multipacks account for the largest portion of its chocolate sales, so the reduction in bar sizes will eliminate 10 billion calories from the British market in one go
Many Twitter users reacted negatively to the news, claiming it is the latest catastrophe of 2020.
One tweeted: 'Well this is the year that keeps on giving. Cadbury to shrink size of Wispa Gold and Double Decker bars.'
Another commented: 'They're shrinking Wispa Gold and Double Decker: who's up for marching on the Houses of Parliament this weekend?'
| Chocolate bar | Individual bar grams | Individual bar calories | Multipack bar grams | Multipack bar calories | Number of calories it will need to shrink by | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boost | 48.5g | 250 | 40g | 206 | 6 | |
| Wispa Gold | 48g | 244 | 41g | 206 | 6 | |
| Double Decker | 54.5g | 250 | 40g | 185 | 0 | |
| Bournville Classic | 45g | 240 | 45g | 236 | 36 |
And another wrote: 'Both of which have already been shrunk down from the OG size, and if they carry on like this we'll just end up buying the wrappers with chocolate fragrance inside.'
Multipack bars are already smaller than individual ones. A Cadbury Classic Bournville Dark Chocolate bar sold in a three pack is 41g and contains 236 calories. A bar sold on its own is 45g and contains 240 calories.
The new shrinkflation tactic means the multipack bar will have to lose 36 calories to bring it under 200.
Many Twitter users reacted negatively to the news, claiming it is the latest catastrophe of 2020
Last year Cadbury announced it was shrinking its Curly Wurly, Fudge bar and Chomp among other products to bring them in under 100 calories.
The 2019 Curly Wurly weighed in at 26g and 118 calories, which meant it required a 22g cut to bring it in under 100 calories.
Other products due to be put under the Cadbury shrink ray before the end of this year include the Fudge bar (114 calories) which required a cut from 25.5g to 22g, and the Chomp (110 calories) which went from 23.5g to 21g.
Pictured: How the Cadbury's snacks are set to shrink, following on from the release of a lighter Dairy Milk (far right)
Mondelez's Oreo Mini snack pack and Freddo Face Cakes will be shrunk by the end of 2021.
Many companies have decided to reformulate their products, often taking out some of the sugar, in order to reduce the calorie count, however this was rejected by Mondelez for these products.
Cadbury recently launched a new Dairy Milk chocolate bar variant with 30 per cent less sugar in response to concerns about rising obesity. In this case, it changed the recipe to use corn fibre to replace some of the sugar.
The company claimed that the decision to shrink the products aimed at children, rather than introduce a healthier recipe, comes from its 'commitment to taste'.
A new version of the Cadbury Dairy Milk bar containing 30 per cent less sugar hit shelves last year. Pictured: the amount of sugar in the original bar (left) versus the latest bar (right)
UK Managing Director at Cadbury's parent firm Mondelez International, Louise Stigant, said: 'We want to play our part in tackling childhood obesity and are focusing on the areas where we can make the greatest impact.
'Our brands have been around for hundreds of years and play a special role in people's lives as treats to be enjoyed in moderation.
'We want to support parents when they choose to give their children a treat and introducing this calorie cap will make it simpler for them to find a treat under 100 calories that children will enjoy.'
It is not the first time a chocolate company has claimed the reason it is shrinking products is to help combat obesity. As long ago as 2009, Mars in Australia ran a massive marketing campaign based on this theme to justify cutting the size of the Mars bar.
At the time, politicians described the move, which saw no corresponding price cut, as underhand.
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