Bad news, chocolate addicts: Cadbury Australia is about to make its family-size chocolate blocks smaller again, dropping from the current 220 gram size to 200 grams while maintaining the current price.
Picture: Getty Images/Matt Cardy
Cadbury announced the change in a statement on its web site and via its Facebook page:
While our commitment to providing the same taste and quality of Cadbury chocolate you love remains, you will see a change in the size of our 210g/220g family blocks. Confectionery companies around the world are feeling the squeeze of increasing costs. At Cadbury, we’re feeling it too. We’ve reached a point where we can no longer absorb these increasing costs into the price of our chocolate blocks.
The announcement doesn’t specify exactly how much smaller the blocks will be, but Cadbury told The Age the drop would be in the range of 10 per cent. That would reduce a 220 gram block back to 200 grams. Cadbury pulled a similar stunt in 2009, cutting the then-familiar 250 grams back to 200 grams, but then went back up to 220 grams in 2013 after a consumer backlash.
On top of the usual outcries about rising prices and decreasing value, there’s a political element here: Cadbury was promised $16 million in the 2013 federal election to maintain its factory in Tasmania as a tourist attraction, though that grant is still being assessed.
For some consumers, buying Australian outstrips price concerns. Others would prefer to pay more if a product costs more to produce, rather than seeing quantities reduced. Nutritionists would argue that shrinking package sizes isn’t necessarily a bad thing. And realistically, some people will throw the block of chocolate they buy every week into their supermarket trolley and not notice. What’s your stance?
Comments
31 responses to “Cadbury Is Shrinking Its Family-Size Chocolate Blocks”
Well let’s be honest: They could either increase the price of the product or reduce the size. Someone who buys a block of chocolate with the intent of eating the whole thing will still obtain the same amount of satisfaction by eating 200g instead of 220g while still paying the same price.
Same satisfaction for same price with 10% less calories is, in my opinion, better than paying 10% more for the same product for the same satisfaction.
So you’re saying it’s perfectly OK for them to reduce the amount and keep the same price?
It may not be much right now, but letting them get away with it, just opens the door for rorting with impunity. The ACCC should be on their asses from the getgo imo.
Dude…they openly admitted it’s due to their cost of production. Why should they lower their price too? They’re a business trying to stay in business….what do you do for a living? I bet you practice similar principles.
The price per gram has increased.. you’re still going to be paying for that increased price per gram but the “shelf price” of a “block” will remain the same. Can’t really expect to get more for less, can you? Really?
“So you’re saying it’s perfectly OK for them to reduce the amount and keep the same price?”
Yes, if their claims about increasing production costs are legitimate. If they reduce the amount and reduce the price as well, then they’re back at square one.
@dman @Aleks
I understand what you are saying, but I’m talking about the little nibbling steps companies are taking, not just Cadbury. Little steps that you don’t notice until next thing you know, you have no choice, but to just put up with it. This sort of thing needs to be stopped along with Woolies and Coles replacing legitimate product with inferior copies!
If it avoids them upping the price against the standard inflation rate of 5.21% per year? Sure! It means the consumer is paying less than they otherwise would for the product which will provide the same level of satisfaction, otherwise.
Still the best tasting chocolate in that price rage, according to my taste buds. So I guess I either pay more for less, or go to the really expensive stuff.
Cadbury does taste great. So much better than American chocolate I’ve tried.
Fun Fact – the chemical that makes vomit smell so bad is in most American chocolate. Hershey’s make chocolate cheap and that is a byproduct. Some other US choc companies add it in deliberately because Americans have been conditioned to expect that.
Eugh.
Hershey’s is absolutely horrible. Distinct vomit aftertaste. Gross.
Ugh, yeah, not to mention that hideously greasy ‘layer-of-fat-coating-the-roof-of-your-mouth’ feeling. I really don’t know how some people can be so in love with that stuff.
Oh look, it’s even on Wikipedia!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hershey_bar
At least they didn’t try to pass it off as a health decision
This will go perfect with my smaller can of Coke that still sells for the same price as before!
Yep they did that a while ago then re-released the 220g block with “..10% extra joy..” branding. Would not be surprised to see this again in 6-12 months..
http://colessupermarkets.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/591-coles-cdm-reframe-facebook-v1.jpg?w=584&h=547
It was still less than the original 250g.
You mean they are shrinking them again
Cadbury seem to be becoming a pretty anti consumer company lately don’t they? Dropping sizes, cheaping out on ingredients, and charging the same money for an inferior product.
Actually they are keeping the same ingredients, hence the price hike.
Options:
1. Cheap ingredients
2. Smaller blocks
3. Higher price.
4. Lose money.
That was specifically the Crème Egg.
I used to only buy it when it was on sale in the supermarket, for about 1c per gram. And then I’d buy 10 bars. I haven’t seen that kind of pricing since they dropped the size. I don’t think I’ve bought a bar since then either, out of principle. No, I didn’t eat them all in one go. Just one or two rows a day.
There have been fewer sales recently. But every month they are usually on special for $3 per block. Every 6 months they get down to $2.50 per block. Although this pricing may be store specific.
I refuse to buy at the $3.50 ‘sale’ price. It’s not a sale, stop trying to condition me to a new sale price.
The CEO will no doubt get a huge bonus for having saved the company so much money.
How are they saving money? Are the new expensive ingredients exactly equal to the reduced size? I’m not in the business of buying raw chocolate ingredients by the tonne, so excuse my ignorance on prices.
I’ll just buy Lindt dark chocolate instead. It’s better quality chocolate and I don’t need to eat as much to get the same satisfaction. Aldi dark chocolate is pretty good too. I swear that Cadbury milk chocolate is specially formulated to make you want to eat a lot of it before you feel satisfied.
If you want maximum satisfaction per kJ/calories then 85% Lindt dark chocolate is even better than normal dark chocolate. You generally won’t want to (and shouldn’t) eat more than 1-2 pieces. It’s extremely bitter but has a nice and lasting after taste.
I buy Valrhona and Cluizel chocolates to enjoy as a “Block”. But I must admit a Snickers or Cherry Ripe is a guilty pleasure.
I was most upset when Cadbury stopped wrapping the chocolate in paper. Hence I do like the cardboard Lindt packs.
Tomorrow the papers will be saying how Cadbury increased the chocolate rations from 180 grams to 200 grams.
That would be double-plus good!
To be fair, families are smaller these days
Is it just me or are the holes in lifesavers getting bigger?
Don’t buy Cadbury’s brown wax. Go to Aldi and buy “Choceur” brand – great taste, great variety, and about 50% cheaper. Cadbury is ripping you off, again!
Just watch the price of those Cadbury bars go up.
I don’t know how many of you have read 1984, but it seems like Cadbury will having us thanking them for having increased the bars to 200g soon.