Cadbury Dairy Milk has shrunk its Freddo multipacks by 20%, but their shelf price has remained the same in some supermarkets.
According to The Grocer’s analysis, the former Freddo 5x18g and Freddo Caramel 5x19.5g multipacks, which disappeared from Tesco earlier this month, both had a pre-promotional price of £1.40 in the retailer [Assosia 12 w/e 28 May 2025].
They have since been replaced in Tesco with Freddo 4x18g and Freddo Caramel 4x19.5g multipacks, at the same price of £1.40.
At the time of writing, Morrisons was selling both the old multipacks of five and the new multipacks of four, both at £1.40, online.
Morrisons also appeared to have newly listed a Freddo 10x18g value pack at £3.
In Sainsbury’s, the original multipacks of five were still available online at the time of writing, both at £1.40.
In Asda, meanwhile, Freddo 5x18g, which had previously carried a shelf price of £1.38, was out of stock.
Cadbury’s ‘considerable challenges’
A spokesman for Cadbury owner Mondelez confirmed the manufacturer had reduced the weight of its Freddo multipacks, citing “significantly higher input costs” as its reason for doing so.
Ingredients such as cocoa and dairy now cost “far more” than they had done previously, said the spokesman.
“Meanwhile, other costs like energy and transport, also remain high,” he added.
“This means that our products continue to be much more expensive to make and while we have absorbed these costs where possible, we still face considerable challenges.
“As a result of this difficult environment, we have had to make the decision to slightly reduce the weight of our Cadbury Dairy Milk Freddo multipacks so that we can continue to provide consumers with the brands they love, without compromising on the great taste and quality they expect.”
Portfolio tweaks
As reported by The Grocer, Cadbury made a similar move to shrink its Twirl multipacks earlier this year, also citing soaring costs.
Meanwhile, the base price of a Cadbury Dairy Milk tablet (95g-110g) has risen by an average 13.5% year-on-year to £1.76 across the traditional big four, Aldi and Waitrose, according to The Grocer’s KVI Tracker [Assosia 52 w/e 22 May 2025].
It comes after cocoa commodity prices hit record-breaking highs last year, triggered by a poor crop in west Africa, caused by extremely dry weather, and compounded by the spread of diseases such as cacao swollen shoot virus in cocoa plantations across Ivory Coast and neighbouring Ghana.
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