please empty your brain below
... so did you already know about the recipe change, or did my (edited out) comment yesterday tip you off / unmake your day? :)

Antipodean | 14.01.15 - 7:05 a.m. | #

... or has your inbox / comment box been full of people advising you of the change?

Antipodean | 14.01.15 - 7:06 a.m. | #

I think you'd have to be pretty much dead not to have noticed the national furore about the Creme Egg recipe being changed.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 14.01.15 - 7:15 a.m. | #

They're smaller (34g) in the USA.

Gordon | 14.01.15 - 7:42 a.m. | #

Je Suis Cadbury Creme Oeuf

Antipodean | 14.01.15 - 8:16 a.m. | #

I must be pretty much dead.

Blue Witch | Homepage | 14.01.15 - 8:28 a.m. | #

of course you'll eat fewer, they come in smaller boxes.

the wolf | 14.01.15 - 8:31 a.m. | #

I was wondering when you would be moved to comment!
So, costs of ingredients is the cause is it? So how is it the ingredient, milk, is currently cheaper than bottled water even to a retail consumer? Don't tell me, Kraft are importing US milk at US prices + import costs?

B | 14.01.15 - 9:17 a.m. | #

At least they are not using that disgusting brown stuff that is sold as chocolate in the US.

Andrew | 14.01.15 - 9:43 a.m. | #

I must admit that I've made a deliberate effort to avoid Cadburys on principle since they were taken over and and treated the staff with contempt. Creme eggs are something I used to eat but, when they became a year round item, they lost their novelty and haven't bought one for a long time.

I see absolutely no reason for companies to change a successful recipe unless forced to by law. I'm certain that the change in recipe is for cost custting reasons only. Ive no doubt that in a few months time, there will be an "improved" egg for sale at a higher price!

People should vote with their feet (or mouths?)

Rogmi | 14.01.15 - 9:43 a.m. | #

'Lower prices are here to stay, says Osborne' cries a front page story in today's Daily Telegraph. Now I don't know who to believe.

Duncan Weldon on Newsnight last night talking about deflation, says 'core inflation', stripping out more volatile items like fuel is down to about 1.2%. Perhaps your eggs are classed in this volatile group.

Lorenzo | 14.01.15 - 9:44 a.m. | #

14% cocoa solids? That's just brown sweet margarine. You may as well mix Stork, sugar, and food colouring.

Max Roberts | 14.01.15 - 9:44 a.m. | #

I am also dead, it would seem.

But have subsequently found that someone else was so alive to the point where the wrote a song to Cadbury's about it ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONIn23nETa8

geofftech | Homepage | 14.01.15 - 9:53 a.m. | #

Pretty much everything in the chocolate line is changing for the worst, eg Walnut Whirl's; Chocolate Orange's and even KitKat. Then there's Quality Street and Rose's - smaller tins every year and all my favourites gone. Aldi do very good chocolate.

Jim Brown | Homepage | 14.01.15 - 9:59 a.m. | #

#firstworldproblems

Simon | 14.01.15 - 10:34 a.m. | #

When choosing chocolate I only buy bars of black chocolate 75% or more cocoa solids. I had heard about the Cadburys creme eggs box content reduction, I think on BBC Radio 4, so it has been in the news.
I always thought chocolate eggs were eaten at Easter, but like another Easter treat Hot Cross buns they seem to be on sale all year now.
Probably be better for your health to eat less creme eggs dg.

John | 14.01.15 - 10:36 a.m. | #

DG: your analysis of the stated ingredients alteration seems to confuse "cocoa solids" with "milk solids". I don't know much about chocolate, but they are pretty certainly different things. Chocolate, to be called chocolate, must have cocoa solids. Milk, in most of Europe, is not required at all. Even in Britain, it is optional.

dg writes: Yes sorry, I meant milk solids rather than cocoa solids. Now fixed, thanks.

Malcolm | 14.01.15 - 10:47 a.m. | #

Still vile though

Kim | 14.01.15 - 10:57 a.m. | #

I, too, appear to have been dead.

Srsly, what Cadbury's have termed 'chocolate' isn't really - even with the 20% min. cocoa solids. Real chocolate has at least 30% cocoa solids, and cocoa butter as the fat content.

This new 'chocolate flavoured' creme egg thing is but another nail in the coffin of what was once a Respectable Company with Principles.

Bronchitikat | Homepage | 14.01.15 - 11:40 a.m. | #

Chocolate type bars have, since time immemorial, gradually shrunk in size, only to be replaced with a bar exactly the same size with "newer, bigger bar" on the wrapper at a higher price.

However, it seems that almost all food and other commodity producers are doing it now. I used to buy "Streamline" jam and marmalade because it was healthier (less sugar) and tasted good because it had more fruit. At £1.67 a jar it was expensive, but it was worth it. In about two years, this has graddually dropped in size from about 440g to the current 340g size, but the price remains the same. I stopped buying it on principle and currently spead a rather nice Asda Ginger Preserve on my toast at 85p for 454g!

Rogmi | 14.01.15 - 11:51 a.m. | #

@Rogmi Creme Eggs are year round now? I didn't think they were. I find they usually disappear a few weeks after Easter and appear again after Christmas.

What has changed is we now get "Scream Eggs" around halloween (essentially the same but with the yoke green, not yellow), although these don't seem to be as widely available.

Personally I think they should make Creme Eggs the size they used to be (like an ordinary egg) and put 6 in the box (as we buy eggs in 6). And go back to using Dairy Milk. I don't care if this makes them more expensive.

Jon Combe | 14.01.15 - 12:35 p.m. | #

Just been to Sainsbury's: 50p each or 3 for £1.

Greg | 14.01.15 - 1:41 p.m. | #

My goodness...I thought (or was it I was lead to believe?) I was grumpy!So...to sum up. It gone up in price (alot of things do), you get less for your money (again this tends to happen)...but on the plus side you perhaps end up healthier because you eat less stuff that (lets be honest) is not that good for you. Most of us by now know the "tricks" going on. Like crisp packets being smaller in multi-packs than those sold single. The fact that some orange juices are packaged in what appears to be 1ltr container but really are 900ml, etc. So we all know what to do...

Grumpy Anon | 14.01.15 - 4:31 p.m. | #

Waitrose currently has a 2 for 90p offer on creme eggs. That's even less per egg than last year if you buy even numbers. Alas that won't bring back the dairy milk coating.

Creme Egg Chick | 14.01.15 - 5:50 p.m. | #

buy the cream egg ... buy a bar of Dairy Milk ... melt the Dairy Milk in the microwave (slowly so that you get it molten but not hot) ... dip one end of the cream egg in the melted Dairy Milk and set aside in an egg box to set while you dip some more cream eggs ... when set enough to handle dip the other ends in the Dairy Milk

and if you want even more of a Dairy Milk fix repeat the whole process again so you have a super thick coating around the horrid gooey mess inside

Caroline | 14.01.15 - 8:39 p.m. | #

Got to hand it to Cadbury...get people talking about one of their (Easter?) products in January. How? Well, offer the buying public the chance to buy less for more. Oh that is not a good idea! Indeed, but it a marketing ploy...shops will start doing "offers" and then people will mention them too. Result...probably greater sales than last year.

Working Class Hero | 14.01.15 - 8:54 p.m. | #

Aldi had 3 for 99p last year for quite some time which I thought was excellent value. I won't be trying the new eggs unless they are the same as last years offer.

Rick | 14.01.15 - 9:11 p.m. | #

the first election pledge about Creme Eggs

Half a physicist | 14.01.15 - 9:32 p.m. | #

FYI All Cadbury products in the USA are manufactured by Hershey. And their chocolate has never been as delicious as UK Cadbury.

Colesville Garth | 15.01.15 - 12:04 a.m. | #

Perhaps you would also like to know that the dreaded eggs were made in the UK at Keynsham, until Cadbury got taken taken over and the factory was closed.. even though they said they would not close it .. soon to be more housing.

splashy | 15.01.15 - 12:26 a.m. | #

Did you also compare the ingredients list or only the nutritional values? Less milk, the same amount of sugar, what did they replace the milk with?

Martin | 15.01.15 - 7:13 a.m. | #

Hi Martin - good point.

I've added a bit to the post about the list of ingredients, because there used to be more milk than sugar, but this year there's more sugar than milk.

2014: Milk, sugar, glucose syrup, cocoa butter...
2015: Sugar, milk, glucose syrup cocoa butter...

The change reflects a reduction in the amount of milk rather than an increase in the amount of sugar.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 15.01.15 - 7:28 a.m. | #

For those commenting on "Kraft Foods" and American chocolate. Cadbury is owned by Mondez International not Kraft now. Kraft split the confectionary and grocery businesses so Kraft make Macaroni and cheese and other American groceries. Mondelez make Cadbury, Toblerone, Choc Orange, Milka, Oreos and other sweet goods, but are more European based than US. I noticed when in Germany that most of the special flavours of Cadbury Dairy Milk we get (Oreo, Ritz etc) are also available under the Milka brand in Germany.
Hershey have always manufactured Creme Eggs under license and has nothing to do with Kraft Foods takeover (and subsequent split to Mondelez). Cadbury liked Hershey as they were also set up by a Quaker.

Jon | 15.01.15 - 8:53 a.m. | #

Thank you for your uncompromisingly thorough research, DG. The results put me in a bit of a bind - I loathe Dairy Milk and rather like Wispa, so would probably enjoy the change - but the way in which it was hidden, plus the pricing shenanigans, make me want to boycott on principle. I wonder which will win out, principle or greed?

misspiggy | 16.01.15 - 1:11 a.m. | #

@Jon According to Wiki, Mondelez (Mondelez International also have their own site) is just Kraft under another name - I assume that it was split as a tax dodge. it's effectively still the same people as those that ripped off Cadburys.

These days, there are probably only a few global companies that effectively control everything in their area (e.g. food). What you buy may be under different brand names, but follow the names up the family tree and you'll find that most end up with a very big corporation heading them, however they're split. Kraftt / Mondalez are no exception. The Mondalez International co uk site has a timeline (under 'our heritage') that shows how they have acquired companies over the years, and many brand names will be familiar to UK readers. Theeir com site also has a corporate timeline which gives the timeline of some of the individual companies they took over.

All along the food chain (literally!), it's a case of big fish eating smaller fish and bigger fish eating them. Brand names are retained, presumably to make people think they have a choice and perhaps because they know people will be loyal to a brand, but in the end, people really have very little choice

Rogmi | 16.01.15 - 11:10 a.m. | #











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