Choc horror... Terry’s Orange shrinks by 10%
IT has been a mainstay of Christmas stockings for generations.
But children – and quite a few parents – across the country could be in for a disappointment when they open their Terry’s Chocolate Orange this year.
For it has emerged that Terry’s American owners have quietly shrunk the treat by 10 per cent, from 175g to 157g – but kept the price the same.
If you buy a chocolate orange today, you’d be hard-pressed to spot any difference while it is wrapped.
However, once unwrapped and broken, it becomes obvious that the sides of the segments are no longer straight. This creates gaps between each piece, making the whole orange lighter.
But despite this potentially sneaky tactic, Mondelez, which owns Terry’s, has insisted it is not trying to fool its customers.
A spokesman told the Mail that it felt it was ‘important to protect’ the size of the chocolate orange.
The firm is now facing a backlash from chocolate aficionados who have complained the orange is now more akin to a satsuma.
Some have even set up a Facebook page to lambast the firm, calling the company ‘sneaky b****rs’ and accusing it of ‘ruining British chocolate’.
Terry’s Chocolate Orange was first made in York in 1931, by brothers Frank and Noel Terry.
In 1993 Terry’s was taken over by US food giant Kraft, which moved production of the chocolate orange from York to Poland in 2005.
But the real turning point came when Mondelez took over in 2012. Since then, the US giant has been criticised for tampering with a long list of the nation’s favourite treats.
One of the biggest controversies came last Easter, when the firm changed the recipe of Creme Eggs from Cadbury’s chocolate to a similar alternative in what seemed to be a cost-cutting exercise.
A Mondelez spokesman said yesterday that because the firm has been ‘experiencing much higher costs’ they have had to reduce the weight of the chocolate orange.
She added: ‘We have worked hard to protect the iconic orange shape that consumers know and love and remain confident that Terry’s Chocolate Orange remains a good value for money product.’