Kit Kat

Source: Steve Dresser

Retail analyst Steve Dresser posted photos of the ‘new’ multipacks to X yesterday

Kit Kat is the latest chocolate brand to have shrunk its packs to mitigate the impact of record-high cocoa costs.

A spokeswoman for Kit Kat owner Nestlé confirmed the manufacturer had replaced its multipacks of nine Kit Kats for eight-packs, and its multipacks of 21 Kit Kats with 18-packs after the smaller-sized packs appeared on supermarket shelves earlier this month.

Retail analyst and Grocery Insight CEO Steve Dresser posted a photo of the smaller packs on shelf in Tesco to X yesterday, all of which were called out as “new” by the retailer via their shelf-edge labels. 

“Shrinkflation alert,” posted Dresser. ”Kit Kat’s now down to 8pk (from 9pk)… Note: the ‘new’ SEL is always a major, major giveaway of any chicanery like this,” he added.

The Grocer’s analysis now reveals that prices of the smaller multipacks have not come down to reflect the weight change [Assosia 12 w/e 16 June 2025]. In fact, prices of the multipacks have risen by as much as 18.1% in some cases.

Kit Kat 2 Finger Milk Chocolate 9x20.7g, for instance, was £2.20 in Tesco and Sainsbury’s; the new 8x20.7g pack now carries a shelf price of £2.20 in both supermarkets.

In Asda, the old nine-pack was £2.18. It been replaced by the eight-pack at the same price.

Morrisons listed the nine-pack at £2; the eight-pack now carries the same shelf price in the retailer.

Meanwhile, Kit Kat 2 Finger Milk Chocolate 21x20.7g was £3.60 in Tesco and Sainsbury’s; it has been replaced with Kit Kat 2 Finger Milk Chocolate Biscuit Bars 18 x 20.7g at the higher price of £4 in Tesco and £4.25 in Sainsbury’s.

Necessary adjustments

“Like every manufacturer, we have seen significant increases in the cost of cocoa, making it much more expensive to manufacture our products,” a Nestlé spokeswoman told The Grocer.

“As always, we continue to be more efficient and absorb increasing costs where possible. To maintain the same high-quality, delicious products that consumers know and love, it has sometimes been necessary to make adjustments to the price, weight or size of some of our products.

“Retail pricing is always at the discretion of individual retailers,” the spokeswoman added.

Tesco advised that its Kit Kat multipacks were competitively priced, while Morrisons declined to comment. The Grocer has approached Sainsbury’s and Asda.

Nestlé isn’t the only manufacturer to have shrunk the size of its chocolate bars in recent weeks. As reported by The Grocer earlier this month, Cadbury Dairy Milk shrunk its Freddo multipacks by 20%, but their shelf price remained the same in some supermarkets.

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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