Caitríona Redmond: Why your supermarket chocolate mightn't be all it's cracked up to be

Your favourite bars and treats may have changed recipe

"If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit and enjoy a Club bar, then I have very bad news for you. The coating is now chocolate-flavoured. Likewise, Penguin bars are no longer chocolate bars."

Whether a bar is termed ‘chocolate’ or ‘chocolate-flavoured’ is determined by legislation, and several brands have recently fallen foul of these legal rules.

If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit and enjoy a Club bar, then I have very bad news for you. The coating is now chocolate-flavoured. Likewise, Penguin bars are no longer chocolate bars.

These changes have happened to save money for the manufacturer and, they say, to keep your favourite treats at an affordable price.

Ireland and Britain have long held a derogation for milk chocolate, one of the most popular types of bar on sale. Most of us would be familiar with the term “glass-and-a-half of milk in every bar”. This tradition led to negotiations at an EU level, which resulted in milk chocolate legally requiring at least 20% of cocoa solids. Anything less than that isn’t the real deal.

For the rest of the EU, milk chocolate must contain at least 25% cocoa solids with 14% (or more) milk solids.

Fans of quality chocolate have long derided the poor quality of chocolate manufactured in the US and, considering the regulations, it’s no surprise that these varieties can be so unpopular outside of America. The FDA sets the limits, requiring at least 10% chocolate liquor, 12% milk solids, and 3.39% milk fat. That’s clearly very different to the Irish and EU regulations.

For manufacturers, changing the recipe is a whopping undertaking. Cacao is sold as a commodity and, due to the climate crisis, plants have been struggling to thrive in their native habitats. The cost of buying cacao will rise according to demand but, in the case of a poor harvest, the prices will increase significantly due to reduced supply.

Once planted in the shade of larger rainforest trees, each cacao tree takes about five years to reach maturity and start producing pods. Established trees can be harvested up to twice a year for over 20 years but the climate crisis has been having a significant impact on yield. Cacao pods depend on insect pollination to produce dark seeds, which are harvested and then fermented to create the building blocks for chocolate. High temperatures and excessive, persistent rainfall make a significant impact on harvest volumes and quality.

Moving the farms to higher altitudes, where they are less susceptible to heat and flooding due to rainfall, may help but it would take several more years for the new plantations to establish. In the meantime, the climate crisis continues at pace and moving location may not be a viable long-term solution.

Manufacturers and producers have been aware of the impact of the climate crisis on the chocolate harvest for many years. Chocolate is sold on global commodity markets and, as the climate has directly impacted yields, the overall purchase price has risen. Faced with a higher cost of producing our favourite chocolate snacks, they started to design and test new solutions that would reduce production costs while still retaining the same taste.

This recipe and consumer testing process would have taken up to two years of planning before the new recipe rolled off the production line and into your local supermarket in the past few months.

For their part, the manufacturers say that their extensive testing says that most consumers recognise the flavours and don’t notice the recipe difference.

There have been other considerations, such as having to drop a very popular jingle and marketing campaign. Labels and nutritional advice will have been recalculated, and new wrapping printed too.

Changing a popular recipe is a calculated risk. There’s a tipping point where consumers will stop buying a preferred product if they believe it has deviated from their preference and the manufacturer doesn’t address it. On the other hand, if the price of a chocolate bar continued to rise to match the increased ingredient cost, then consumers would stop putting the bars into their shopping baskets.

I think we’re all aware that the cost of living has increased across the board. The world of food manufacturing has not been immune to many of the same financial pressures we are under, such as fuel, energy, and the cost of other ingredients such as sugar and flour. Manufacturers can, and do, change their recipes frequently for various reasons but this is an occasion where the classification of their products changes due to legislation regarding the use of the term ‘chocolate’.

It’s worth remembering that there are very few companies that exist for the common good, like a ‘B Corp’. Most corporate organisations operate to make money for their owners, shareholders, or both. I wonder if the snack manufacturers will be rubbing their hands in glee when they protect the shareholders’ dividends by substituting palm oil for cocoa solids at the cost of more quality and ethical ingredients.

Buyer beware. You either continue to buy the cheaper bars in the knowledge that they no longer technically contain chocolate, you stop buying the treats altogether, or you shift to an alternative that does contain the ingredients you expect. It’s your choice.

PANEL

Before you start planning your chocolate treats for Halloween and Christmas, thank Irish rather than global brands. Local chocolatiers and ethical chocolate producers are doing their best to keep their prices fair while maintaining quality. It may be better to eat a little less in favour of a much nicer, genuine chocolate bar. Not forgetting that supporting Irish chocolate producers has the broader benefit of supporting Irish jobs and communities.

Brand names aside, the own-brand or private label ranges across all supermarkets may offer an affordable alternative, still containing chocolate. Watch out for terms like ‘chocolate flavoured’ and opt for products with the Fairtrade stamp. There are excellent ‘dupes’ for big brand names in every supermarket; it’s your choice after all.