CADBURY fans have been left in shock after discovering a big change to Heroes Christmas tubs.
It comes as shoppers have flocked to social media to show that their tubs contain normal-size Twirls – instead of the bite-size version.
Shoppers have been left in shock after discovering normal-size Twirls in Heroes tubs
One shopper tweeted Cadbury and asked: “CadburyUK hero tub with two multipack bars of twirls?”
In response to this, the confectioner said: “We’re sorry to hear you are not happy with this change.
“Due to supply chain issues, in a small percentage of Heroes tubs, we have temporarily substituted bitesize Cadbury Twirl with the slightly larger Cadbury Twirl 21g.
“This means you will still have the same amount of chocolate to enjoy in every tub!”
Another shopper said: “I mean I’m happy with more chocolate than usual but this is very peculiar!”
It comes only a year after Mondelez, the US food giant which owns Cadbury, told The Sun that supply chain issues affected the availability of bite-size Cadbury Twirl products.
A spokesman said: “To ensure we can continue to bring our loyal consumers the products they know and love, we have temporarily substituted bitesize Cadbury Twirl in Heroes Tubs, to the slightly larger Cadbury Twirl 21g.
“Rest assured consumers can enjoy the same amount of chocolate as before with the overall weight of the product remaining the same.”
We’ve asked Mondelez if the big Twirls will still be substituted in tubs manufactured for this festive period.
But it wasn’t the first time Cadbury had been hit with supply chain issues in 2022.
In June the chocolate firm reported that supply chain issues had hit stocks of Flakes.
The Sun previously revealed that Christmas chocolate tubs have shrunk in size and increased in price, once again for this festive season.
Cadbury has also shrunk tubs of Heroes and Roses from 600g to 550g, citing similar reasons.
The retail price set by the chocolate maker for both Heroes and Roses tubs is £8.09.
The price hasn’t increased – but the tactic is known as shrinkflation.
This is when a food manufacturer reduces the size of an item while keeping the price the same.
It means shoppers won’t pay more when costs increase for the company making the item, but they will get less product.
A spokesperson for Mondelez said at the time: “We are facing the same challenges that so many other food companies have already reported when it comes to significantly increased input costs – whether it’s food commodities, energy prices or packaging materials – and rising inflation.
“This means that our products are much more expensive to make.
“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 reduce the size of our Heroes and Roses tubs to maintain the great taste and quality our fans enjoy.”
But shoppers will still end up paying more this year for fewer of the Cadbury treats as supermarkets have the power to set their own prices.
Currently, 600g Cadbury Hero tubs are selling for £5 at Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s (with a £4 Clubcard price at Tesco) – all up from £4 last year.
Asda sells the same tubs for £4.50 – up from £4 this time last year.
You can compare more prices using the site Trolley.co.uk.