London - British lovers of chocolate are infuriated because Cadbury has changed the recipe of its Fruit & Nut bar.
In what appears to be a cost-cutting move, the company says it will no longer use only raisins alongside the nuts but will add cheaper sultanas as well.
The firm said the planned change to the bar, launched in 1926, was designed to add “variety”.
But it appears that the South African version will remain the same. In response to a query, Pat Grebe of Mondelez South Africa said: “The recipe of the Fruit & Nut slab has not changed over all these years. The only change has been the reduction in the weight/size.”
In Britain, a spokesperson said: “It’s important we have a flexible supply of the dried fruit we use in our famous bars to both retain quality and ensure it’s still an affordable treat.”
Cadbury, which has been beset by controversy since being taken over by US firm Kraft in 2010, ran taste tests of its new recipe and found ‘many’ consumers could not tell the difference. It pointed to a poll of 2 000 people that found only 10 percent could say how a raisin differs from a sultana.
Raisin is a generic term for a dried grape of any variety while sultanas are sweeter and plumper. While raisins tend to be dried naturally, sultanas are more often dried with vegetable oil and acid.
They are also cheaper.
Fans of the bar were furious. Simon Barry wrote on Twitter: “I hate Cadbury for changing the Fruit & Nut. Damn the American ownership ruining perfectly good sweets!”
Paul Simmons complained: “@CadburyUK sultanas to be added to Fruit & Nut bar, you are joking.”
Nigel Jennings wrote: “So raisins are being replaced by sultanas in Fruit & Nut choc. In tests many people couldn’t tell the difference. I will, I hate sultanas!”
The new version will be in shops by the end of the month. Packaging will stay the same and the only way to tell them apart will be to check the ingredients. Chocolate expert Dom Ramsey of website Chocablog said only “hardcore Fruit & Nut fans will notice a flavour difference”.
He added: “There are a lot of other flavours going on in a Fruit & Nut bar and the fruit is there for texture as much as anything else. Recipe changes like this are usually made to keep costs down.”
The firm has come under fire for a series of cost-cutting measures that undermined the iconic British brand.
Its US bosses have never been forgiven for reneging on a promise to keep open a Cadbury factory at Keynsham, near Bristol, when they took over. They have also come under fire for shifting much of their chocolate production to cheaper facilities in Poland.
In January, it emerged the firm had stopped using the much-loved Cadbury Dairy Milk for the outer shell of its popular Creme Eggs and switched to what critics said was an inferior alternative.
Daily Mail