Business
Why your chocolate is getting smaller, more expensive and less chocolatey
Archie MitchellBusiness reporter
Getty ImagesCrack open a tub of Celebrations or pull a Terry’s Chocolate Orange from a stocking these days, and have you noticed, there seems to be a little less to go around?
Not only that, you might find – no, it is not your imagination – that some popular treats taste a little different, a little less “chocolatey”.
To top it all the prices have risen too.
So will your festive favourites still hit the sweet spot this Christmas?
Chocs away
Many of the companies making popular bars and chocolates admit they have been looking for ways to save money. A tried-and-tested one is to replace some of the more expensive ingredients, like cocoa, with cheaper ones, a strategy that’s been dubbed “skimpflation”.
Some recipes have changed so much that bars like Toffee Crisp, Penguin and others can no longer be called chocolate.
There is even a debate among some chocolate fans over whether the year-round classic Cadbury’s Dairy Milk has changed its recipe.
Becca Amy Stock, a TikTok influencer who goes by the name Becca Eats Everything, set herself the task of reviewing every milk chocolate bar at Britain’s major supermarkets. The 29-year-old spent six hours and £100 on her rigorous research.
She concluded Dairy Milk was “more oily” since Cadbury’s takeover by the American company Mondelez in 2010. And the brand, famous for its “glass and a half” of milk, was less milky, she said.
“You do notice the difference,” Becca says, “Cadbury’s does not taste how it used to taste.”
Becca Amy StockMilk chocolate in the UK must have at least 20% cocoa solids and 20% milk solids to earn the name chocolate. Without that it has to be labelled “chocolate flavour” not chocolate. Cadbury’s Dairy Milk still meets that standard.
Mondelez says it has not been fiddling with the recipe, at least not recently.
“Our Cadbury Dairy Milk products continue to be made with the same delicious recipes that consumers know and love,” its spokesperson said. “The cocoa content has not changed for many years.”
Crunching the numbers
But it is still one which you’ll be paying more for.
Plenty of food manufacturers have been reducing the size of their products, without dropping prices, known as shrinkflation.
And some are also putting prices up, too.
Chocolate prices in supermarkets have risen by more than 18% on average from this time last year, according to market researchers Kantar.
We got these figures by analysing price data collected by market researchers Assosia across four of the UK’s biggest grocers, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons, between December 2021 and December 2025.
They show:
- Cadbury’s Dairy Milk weighs 10% less, while the cost jumped from £1.86 to £2.75 – a 48% price increase
- Mars Celebrations has shrunk by 23%. The price has risen from £4.25 to £6.11 – a 44% jump
- Terry’s Chocolate Orange is 8% smaller, while the cost has risen from £1.49 to £2.25 – a 51% price rise
Getty ImagesMondelez’s spokesperson said putting up prices was a “last resort” but ingredients are costing more – in particular cocoa and dairy.
“This means our products continue to be much more expensive to make.
“As a result of this difficult environment, we have had to make the decision to slightly reduce the weight and increase the list price of some of our Cadbury products,” they said.
Mars Wrigley told the BBC higher cocoa prices and manufacturing costs meant they had to “adjust some… product sizes… without compromising on quality or taste.”
Sticky costs
So what has caused the price of cocoa and milk to shoot up?
Extreme weather caused by climate change has hit cocoa farmers’ crop yields in Africa, says Ghadafi Razak, an academic at Warwick Business School.
Extreme rainfall in India, Brazil and Thailand in 2023, followed by droughts the following year have meant poor harvests in those countries too, pushing up prices.
The extra costs take time to feed through to customers, says Christian Jaccarini, a senior food analyst at the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit think tank, which means those extra costs are hitting shop shelves now.
“It takes about 18 months for the impact of a shock to be felt by consumers, so we still have quite a long time with higher prices for chocolate,” he said.
Milk prices have shot up too. Diarmaid Mac Colgáin, founder of the Concept Dairy consultancy blames the rising cost of feed, fuel and fertilisers as well as farmers facing higher wage bills and production costs.
He says some brands have substituted palm oil and shea oil for some of the milk to make up the fat content of their chocolate.
Bad taste
Shoppers are becoming increasingly aware of these cost-saving tactics, but that does not mean they are happy about it.
It is the element of unwanted surprise that can leave a bad taste, according to Reena Sewraz, retail editor at consumer champion, Which?
It can feel “especially sneaky” when companies shrink products or downgrade their ingredients she said.
“With Christmas not far away, shoppers will be looking to get the best value from what they buy,” she said. “Supermarkets and manufacturers should be more upfront about making these changes. Customers may not love the news – but [then] at least they don’t feel misled.”
AlamyBut there is not much you can do about it. For Becca, who insists she’s not “chocolated out” despite her chocolate-tasting marathon, quality not quantity is the way to go.
She suggests fellow chocoholics treat themselves to smaller premium bars such as Tony’s Chocolonely. They’ll cost more but she finds them more satisfying.
She also plans to treat herself to a selection-box on Christmas day.
Otherwise she generally advises against “food snobbery”.
“I think supermarket own-brands are actually a much better way to get better quality chocolate.”
Motorists are facing higher fuel prices ahead of Easter break due to the conflict in the Middle East, the RAC says.
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Business
E-cheques coming soon? RBI unveils Payments Vision 2028, plans wider oversight of digital players – The Times of India
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday unveiled its ‘Payments Vision 2028’ document, outlining a roadmap that includes exploring electronic cheques, expanding regulatory oversight to digital platforms, and strengthening safeguards in the fast-growing payments ecosystem, PTI reported.The central bank said it will examine the introduction of e-cheques to combine the advantages of paper instruments with the speed and reliability of digital payments. “To leverage the unique benefits of paper-based instruments and the speed and reliability of electronic payments, and cater to new business use cases, the introduction of electronic cheques in India shall be explored,” the RBI said.Alongside, the RBI is considering widening the regulatory ambit to include entities such as e-commerce marketplaces and centralised platforms that play a growing role in facilitating digital transactions.“In addition, e-commerce marketplaces and centralized platforms have been assuming significant responsibilities that could have implications on the orderly functioning of the payments ecosystem. These aspects shall be examined in detail and, if required, the scope of direct regulations shall be extended to cover such entities,” the document said.The vision document also proposes allowing users to enable or disable transactions across digital payment modes, similar to controls available for card transactions.To address fraud risks, the RBI is exploring a “shared responsibility framework” under which both the issuing bank and the beneficiary bank would share liability in cases of unauthorised digital transactions.The central bank also plans to review cheque design and security features, introduce a Domestic Legal Entity Identifier (DLEI) framework for better transaction traceability, and bring in a Cyber Key Risk Indicators (KRI) framework for non-bank payment system operators.Other initiatives include exploring white-label solutions in the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS), developing interoperability in the Trade Receivables e-Discounting System (TReDS), and introducing a ‘Payments Switching Service’ to ease customer migration across platforms.The RBI said it will also review the cross-border payments ecosystem to improve efficiency and streamline authorisation processes, alongside publishing periodic reports on global and domestic payment trends.Additionally, the central bank aims to enhance access to payment data and reimagine the card payments ecosystem by promoting secure tokenisation, improved transparency in pricing, and greater choice for users and merchants.
Blue chips in London outperformed European and US peers on Friday, but closed marginally lower, as oil prices rose once more amid few signs of progress in ending the Iran war.
“The simple fact is that sentiment is likely to stay negative for as long as the Strait of Hormuz remains unsafe for shipping and controlled by Iran,” commented David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.
The FTSE 100 closed down just 4.82 points at 9,967.35. The FTSE 250 ended down 331.32 points, 1.6%, at 20,964.75, and the AIM All-Share closed down 13.43 points, 1.9%, at 705.63.
For the week, the FTSE 100 rose 0.5%, the FTSE 250 fell 1.8% and the AIM All-Share Index fell 1.7%.
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump issued a 10-day extension on his deadline for Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz or face the destruction of its energy assets.
But with Iran maintaining a hold on the Straits, Mr Trump’s announcement largely failed to lift the mood for markets.
“Traders are now discounting the daily torrent of posts and incoherent press conferences from the White House, as the war rages on,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
“Investors are facing the facts: the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed and it does not appear that there is a real end in sight to the war.”
Mr Trump has insisted Iran wanted “to make a deal” to end the war engulfing the region, but the Iranian side has indicated no let-up in reprisal attacks against Israel and targets across the Gulf.
Kuwait said on Friday its main commercial port was damaged in a drone attack.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency said the country has responded to Washington’s 15-point plan to end the war and was awaiting a reply.
Reports also suggested the US is weighing up sending up to 10,000 additional troops to the Middle East, fuelling speculation that Washington may be preparing for a potential ground operation in Iran.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the move would provide Mr Trump with “more military options”.
Amid the impasse, the oil price’s upward trajectory resumed.
Brent oil was higher at 111.63 US dollars a barrel on Friday afternoon, from 108.80 dollars late on Thursday.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed down 0.9%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended 1.4% lower.
“Trump’s 10-day Taco (Trump always chickens out) has had a less profound impact compared with Monday’s five-day reprieve, with equities losing ground in Europe despite the president’s decision to once again postpone strikes on key energy infrastructure. Instead, there is a real concern that we could see escalation through the use of boots on the ground,” said Joshua Mahony at Scope Markets.
Stocks in New York were lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.1%, the S&P 500 index was 1.0% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.4%.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury widened to 4.42% on Friday from 4.40% on Thursday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury stretched to 4.95% from 4.94%.
The pound fell to 1.3288 US dollars on Friday afternoon from 1.3338 dollars at the equities close on Thursday. Against the euro, sterling fell to 1.1554 euros from 1.1563 euros a day prior.
The euro stood lower against the greenback at 1.1521 dollars from 1.1534 dollars. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was trading higher at 160.10 yen compared to 159.65 yen.
Supporting the FTSE 100, AstraZeneca rose 3.4% after reporting positive phase three results for its chronic obstructive pulmonary disease treatment, tozorakimab.
The company said the drug delivered “significant and highly clinically meaningful” reductions in exacerbations in two replicate trials, Oberon and Titania.
The Bank of America said the data was a “pleasant surprise” after failed trials at Roche and Sanofi for similar drugs.
Cambridge-based AstraZeneca is the FTSE 100’s most valuable company, worth about £223 billion.
The firm sees peak sales for tozorakimab of 3-5 billion dollars, while the current Visible Alpha consensus is 1.2 billion dollars.
3i rallied by 1.0%, after slumping 18% on Thursday amid disappointing like-for-like growth at its main investment, Dutch discount retailer Action.
JPMorgan said lower guidance for flat margins and lower like-for-like sales at Action “than we were expecting, was disappointing.”
Nonetheless, JPM said Action remains a “leading compound growth story” and “3i now offers a cheap way in”.
Elsewhere, the rising gold price boosted Fresnillo and Endeavour Mining, up 0.6% and 1.9% respectively.
Gold rose to 4,517.90 dollars an ounce on Friday from 4,383.70 dollars at the same time on Thursday.
NatWest rose 0.9% as Deutsche Bank raised its share price target to 840p from 730p.
“NatWest has unfairly derated in our view,” analyst Robert Noble said.
In the debit column, Metlen Energy was the biggest faller, down 8.6%.
The Athens-based energy and metallurgy company said auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers have requested more time to complete work on its 2025 financial statements, its first as a dual-listed company in London and Athens.
The group now expects to release results on April 9, a nine-day delay, and reiterated guidance for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of around £750 million.
Housebuilders were once more under pressure. The Bank of America cut price targets by 20% across the sector and lowered pre-tax profit forecasts by 7% through 2026 to 2028, with sector earnings per share expectations now 6% below consensus.
Barratt Redrow fell 4.7%, Persimmon 3.9% and Taylor Wimpey 1.7%.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were: AstraZeneca, up 472.0p at 14,302.0p; Endeavour Mining, up 80.0p at 4,262.0p; Rio Tinto, up 115.0p at 6,545.0p; Reckitt Benckiser, up 90.0p at 5,164.0p; and Glencore, up 6.4p at 538.4p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were: Metlen Energy & Metals, down 3.0p at 31.75p; Barratt Redrow, down 12.6p at 255.7p; Babcock International, down 57.0p at 1,155.0p; Persimmon, down 43.0p at 1,075.0p; and Autotrader, down 17.5p at 447.3p.
Monday’s global economic calendar has UK mortgage approvals data at 7am BST. German and Italian inflation figures are also due, along with the Dallas Fed manufacturing index in the US.
Monday’s local corporate calendar has full-year results from Artisanal Spirits, Aoti and RTW Biotech.
In Europe, daylight saving time starts on Sunday, and clocks go forward by one hour.
Contributed by Alliance News
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