Cadbury shrinks size of Dairy Milk bar but keeps price the same

What you need to know about Cadbury products shrinking  (Photo: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)What you need to know about Cadbury products shrinking  (Photo: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
What you need to know about Cadbury products shrinking (Photo: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Cadbury has reduced the size of its Dairy Milk sharing bars by 10%, but has kept the cost of the bar the same.

US parent company Mondolez said it was the first example of so-called shrinkflation, which reduces the price of a product but its retail price stays the same to boost margins, at the UK chocolate brand for a decade.

Why has the size of Dairy Milk bars been cut?

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Mondelez has blamed rising inflation in the production of its chocolate as the reason for reducing the size of its larger bars from 200g to 180g.

The Dairy Milk bars are still being typically sold at £2 despite the reduction in size.

The company said it had been forced into the move because of the widespread rise in costs that are being experienced by businesses across the globe.

The change comes amid the cost of living crisis in the UK, which has seen food and energy prices soar, adding huge costs to household bills.

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Last week, Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation hit a new 30-year-high of 6.2% for February and it is expected to increase beyond 8% in the coming months.

Figures for February show that food inflation increased by 5.3% year-on-year, with milk, fresh meat and coffee reporting particular sharp rises.

A Mondelez spokesman said: “We’re facing the same challenges that so many other food companies have already reported when it comes to significantly increased production costs - whether it’s ingredients, energy or packaging - and rising inflation.

“This means that our products are much more expensive to make.

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“We understand that consumers are faced with rising costs too, which is why we look to absorb costs wherever we can, but, in this difficult environment, we’ve had to make the decision to slightly reduce the weight of our medium Cadbury Dairy Milk bars for the first time since 2012, so that we can keep them competitive and ensure the great taste and quality our fans enjoy.”

Has Cadbury cut the size of its chocolate bars before?

The recent change is not the first time Cadbury has used shrinkflation.

In 2012, a 49g bar was reduced to 45g but the price stayed the same at 59p.

A year earlier also saw a 140g chocolate bar reduced in size to 120g.

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In 2020, the US firm was accused of shrinkflation as Cadbury chocolate bars sold in multipacks, including popular treats like Crunchies, Twirls and Wispas, were reduced in size to reduce their calorie count, Mondelez said.

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