Blocks of Cadbury family-sized blocks of chocolate will be shrunk by one row, with high manufacturing costs blamed.
Fairfax Media reports that the chocolate market leader in Australia cited “unprecedented” cost pressures over the last 18 months, and chose to decrease size by roughly 10 per cent rather than raise prices.
The blocks would be reduced from the current 220 gram size to about 200 grams.
Confectionery companies worldwide were “feeling the squeeze” from higher input costs, Cadbury said on its website. Among these costs is the price of coca, which spiked last year and has contributed to difficulties for other confectioners such as Ernest Hiller, which was placed in administration last month.
“We’ve reached a point where we can no longer absorb these increasing costs into the price of our chocolate blocks,” explained Cadbury.
A backlash from chocolate fans was predicted.
"Clearly any chocolate lover is going to be a bit disappointed," conceded Amanda Banfield, managing director of parent company Mondelez International, in an interview with Fairfax.
Around 60 per cent of the company’s chocolate is sold in Australia through Coles and Woolworths.
The Cadbury factory at Claremont, Tasmania, produces about 80 million blocks per year, and has a planned $66 million upgrade. $16 million of this was pledged as government co-investment by then-opposition leader Tony Abbott during the 2013 federal election campaign.
Family-sized blocks of Cadbury were decreased in 2009 from 250 to 200 grams, note Lifehacker and others, before being increased to 220 grams in 2013 following consumer anger.
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