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 reveals prices have not come down to reflect the weight change [Assosia 12 w/e 16 June 2025]. In fact, they have risen by over 18% in some cases.

Kit Kat 2 Finger Milk Chocolate 21x20.7g was £3.60 in Tesco and Sainsbury’s; it has been replaced with a 18x20.7g in both supermarkets. At the same time, the shelf price rose by 11.1% to £4 in Tesco and by 18.1% to £4.25 in Sainsbury’s.

The eight-packs have largely stayed the same price as the previous nine-packs. In Tesco and Sainsbury’s, both are priced at £2.20.

There is also no difference at Asda, where the nine-pack has been replaced with the eight-pack at the same price of £2.18. Morrisons listed the nine-pack at £2; the eight-pack now carries the same shelf price.

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, Sainsbury’s and Asda declined to comment. 

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.

Meanwhile, the pre-premotional price of a Cadbury Dairy Milk tablet (95g-110g) has risen by an average of 14.8% year-on-year to £1.78 across the traditional big four, Waitrose and Aldi, according to The Grocer’s KVI Tracker [Assosia 52 w/e 12 June 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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