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[Gowans]

Cadbury loses more than £6m in Creme Egg sales after changing recipe

Company suffers multi-million pound losses after sparking storm of protest across Britain by replacing Dairy Milk in recipe with cheaper chocolate

The makers of Cadbury Creme Eggs are launching an Easter fightback in the wake of suffering multi-million pound losses after a controversial change of the chocolate recipe last year.

A new report shows that Cadbury is gearing up for a spring offensive as cracks have begun to appear in its dominance of the Easter egg market in the UK.

Research by analysts IRI for trade magazine The Grocer found that the brand's best-selling Easter lines lost more than £10 million in sales last year, narrowing its market share from 42per cent to 40per cent.

The report says that the Creme Egg was the biggest loser after US owner Mondelez sparked a storm of protest across Britain by replacing the Dairy Milk in its recipe with cheaper chocolate. Filled and shell Creme Eggs lost more than £6 million, said the study.

However, Mondelez insists that the recipe change did not have an impact.

Marketing manager Claire Low told The Grocer: "The fundamentals of Cadbury Creme Egg remain exactly the same. It's simply not the case that Creme Egg has always been made with Cadbury Dairy Milk."

But the report says that Creme Egg was not the only casualty. Sales of Cadbury Egg 'n' Spoon, launched in 2012, crashed by £1.2 million as average prices fell by nearly a fifth, partly as a result of fiercer deals and strong growth for own label and the discounters. Ms Low acknowledged that with this Easter the earliest since 2008, recovering lost sales would be a tall order.

"We are aware shorter seasons can be challenging," she told the magazine. "To strengthen our positioning, we will continue to invest in power brands, launching new seasonal products and a brand new Easter pack design."

The Grocer said that competition is heating up with Mars' January launch of Galaxy Golden Eggs, its extension of the Malteaster bunny range with a new family pack and Ferrero's launch of Kinder Joy among notable new product developments.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/shopping-and-consumer-news/12094209/Cadbury-loses-more-than-6m-in-Creme-Egg-sales-after-changing-recipe.html

 

[Auctopus]

Sorry, is this potential sales due to loss in market share?

There's no way they literally lost £10 Million on crème eggs.

 

[Yagharek]

Them chickens come home to roost.

 

[frankie_baby]

Well I knowi ain't bought any since they changed the recipe

 

[Shuggananas]

Thanks konami

 

[frankie_baby]

Sorry, is this potential sales due to loss in market share?

There's no way they literally lost £10 Million on crème eggs.

Lost compared to what they used to make

 

[Bold One]

Changing the formula to the crème egg....


Is nothing Sacred?

 

[Broken Joystick]

Creme Eggs are disgusting. Long live mini eggs.

 

[MayMay]

New Coke should've been a lesson

People hate change

 

[tabs2002]

This always happens when recipes are "improved"

 

[valkillmore]

And the eggs are way smaller now than they used to be. And they're now available for a longer period of time during the year, too, what with all the satellite products available that are basically the egg but in different shapes.

Greedy FUCKS

 

[Peru]

Egg n spoon is similar to what we've had going for quite a few years as the de facto easter egg chocolate treat here. If they taste like ours (well, before the dairy milk replacement) then they are (were) tastier than standard creme eggs.

 

[Saint of Killers]

There's no such thing as bad publicity, eh Mondelēz.

 

[ffdgh]

Well if it ain't broken...

 

[QuicheFontaine]

Didn't they also change the pack sizes from half dozen to five?

Goddamn money grubbers. We all new this would happen when fucking KRAFT bought a beloved UK brand. They'll wring it out like a damp flannel.

 

[J4g3r]

Creme Eggs are disgusting. Long live mini eggs.

Yep. Way too sweet and sickly for my tastes.

 

[WadiumArcadium]

I've never been a fan anyway. Too gloopy.

 

[Jill Sandwich]

Cadburys went to shit when Kraft took over.

 

[Rootbeer]

I can't stand waxy chocolate. It's especially bad during easter and valentines, almost everything on the shelf is waxy.

So what are the best alternatives to Cadbury if you want decent quality easter candy but don't want to go to a speciality chocolate store (even though that's a fine idea?)

Cadbury chocolate in the USA is even worse than in Britain. Almost all of it is waxy now.

 

[Kathian]

Kraft thought they could make their sweets cheaper to make without seemingly realising that Cadbury chocs are some of the most expensive on the market.

 

[Oblivion]

Looks like some executive is gonna have egg on their face.

 

[DopeyFish]

All i know is there's now Cadbury Oreo eggs... so they're going to make all that money back

 

[BibiMaghoo]

Ever since they bought Cadbury's, their products have been getting worse and worse each year. Smaller too, noticeably so.

 

[CryptiK]

Shouldn't have changed it, they're average now.

 

[MattKeil]

That explains the oddly unsatisfying Creme Egg I had last spring. Why would you mess with perfection?

 

[gaugebozo]

They've been getting worse since before Kraft bought them: Conan and BJ Novak. Cadbury Eggs smaller

 

[Jamie OD]

New Coke should've been a lesson

People hate change

It wasn't even marketed as a new or improved product. They just changed the recipe one year and everyone noticed.

 

[Daffy Duck]

That explains the oddly unsatisfying Creme Egg I had last spring. Why would you mess with perfection?

Indeed, I wondered why I didn't enjoy them as much last year, this is why.

 

[darkwing]

Cadbury sucks, Lindt rules

 

[Skellig Gra]

Egg n spoon is similar to what we've had going for quite a few years as the de facto easter egg chocolate treat here. If they taste like ours (well, before the dairy milk replacement) then they are (were) tastier than standard creme eggs.

My man

 

[Rootbeer]

They've been getting worse since before Kraft bought them: Conan and BJ Novak. Cadbury Eggs smaller

That's pretty damning

Before and after the shrinkage. And this video is a few years old. Have they shrank yet again?

 

[Bony Manifesto]

Ever since they bought Cadbury's, their products have been getting worse and worse each year. Smaller too, noticeably so.

Not sure about them getting smaller, but they've definitely been deliberately reducing the quality across the board. I think everything that doesn't explicitly say Dairy Milk on it is going to have this cheaper variety of chocolate if it doesn't already. Not to mention the other tweaks to recipes to save money, like replacing raisins with sultanas in Fruit and Nut.

 

[D4Danger]

Hopefully they'll go back. Nobody wants that nasty shit.

 

[Dougald]

You make your product worse and less people want to buy it, who'd have thought

 

[Shuggananas]

Hopefully they'll go back. Nobody wants that nasty shit.

this shit looks vomit inducing, no matter what the recipe is, I'm never putting that shit in my mouth

 

[Mikey Jr.]

Anyone can confirm here that yeah, they taste worse?

 

[KingBroly]

New Coke should've been a lesson

People hate change

Classic Cadbury Cream Egg incoming

They should also bring back New Coke for a little bit.

 

[Tobor]

this shit looks vomit inducing, no matter what the recipe is, I'm never putting that shit in my mouth

It's sugar and chocolate. You can argue that it's not as good as it used to be, but vomit inducing? Come on. It's sugar and chocolate.

 

[Chris1]

Bought some last year and thought something tasted off, googled it and found out they changed the recipe. Haven't bought one since and don't plan to buy this year either.

 

[RobotNinjaHornets]

That's what you get for fucking with Creme Eggs you shitheads

It's like if they decided to change strawberry cremes in Quality Street. I'd be livid

 

[MedicUnderFire]

this shit looks vomit inducing, no matter what the recipe is, I'm never putting that shit in my mouth

More for me then. do love a cream egg.

 

[Jimnymebob]

Anyone can confirm here that yeah, they taste worse?

I don't think they tasted any worse in all honesty. They just weren't as nice due to the chocolate not being as thick as usual.
It's more of a texture vs. taste thing.

 

[Nicktendo86]

They have been making their chocolates smaller and also bringing out really odd new products. They have definitely gone downhill since the takeover.

Their twirl bar is, however, still the GOAT.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

Is this $6 million out of like, $50 million, or $6 million out of $600 million like the Star Wars protest?

 

[Saint of Killers]

this shit looks vomit inducing, no matter what the recipe is, I'm never putting that shit in my mouth

The filling is never that runny. Not in the ones I eat. It's gloopy, sure, but not runny like that image implies. ...But then I haven't eaten one in *years.* Loved 'em when I did, though! I'd scoop the innards out with a spoon and give most of the chocolate to my sister or brothers.

 

[Symphonia]

Cadburys went to shit when Kraft took over.

.

They just ain't been the same.

 

[acheron_xl]

Shareholders gotta eat!

 

[Kapi96]

Good, serves them right. I hope they lose much much more on account of them being ignorant pricks and refusing to see that the unwanted recipe change is the cause.

As for me, I'll be happy with my Galaxy eggs instead

 

[DECK'ARD]

Good.

You don't mess with such a sinful tradition as the creme egg. It's only around once a year.

 

[Mr. Sam]

Fuck you, Kraft. Just because you come from a land of inferior confectioneries - don't inflict that on us.