Cadbury fans have voiced their frustration after the popular Crunchie Easter egg fell victim to shrinkflation for 2026. The new version of the treat now contains just one fun-sized Crunchie bar, a significant reduction from previous years when the eggs included two full-sized bars.
One 34-year-old customer expressed disappointment to The Sun: “When the packaging says one bar, I expected a full-sized Crunchie. My mum and I bought it to share, but it only had a fun-sized bar. A couple of years ago, we’d get two full-sized bars, so this was a shock.”
This change reflects the broader impact of the cost-of-living crisis and shrinkflation, where products become smaller but prices continue to rise. Mondelez, the company behind Cadbury, stated that they made a “carefully considered decision” to reduce the treat size from two bars to one.
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In a statement before Christmas, Mondelez assured customers that the cocoa and dairy content in Cadbury Dairy Milk remained unchanged, and no increase in vegetable oils was made. “Our Cadbury Dairy Milk products continue to be made with the same delicious recipes that consumers know and love. The cocoa content has not changed for many years,” a spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also explained that raising prices was a last resort amid rising ingredient costs, particularly for cocoa and dairy. “Our products are becoming more expensive to make. Due to this challenging environment, we’ve had to slightly reduce product weights while increasing prices on some Cadbury items.”
Similarly, Mars Wrigley acknowledged to the BBC that increasing cocoa prices and manufacturing costs have forced them to adjust product sizes, insisting that quality and taste remain uncompromised.