CADBURY has confirmed it has discontinued a popular Christmas chocolate bar and shoppers are demanding it's brought back.
The chocolate maker has ditched its Dairy Milk Winter Orange Crisp Chocolate Bar this festive season.
The 360g bar was made of smooth chocolate enhanced with tangy orange crisps, and it became a festive favourite for fans of the choclatier.
Shoppers previously labelled it "delicious" and "my favourite chocolate ever".
It was released as the same time as the Dairy Milk winter mint crisp bar, which has also proved to be a hit with shoppers.
But this week, the manufacturer announced the bar has been withdrawn from shops to make way for more flavours.
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It comes after one X user asked Cadbury if the bar would be returning to shelves this Christmas.
They wrote: "@CadburyUK will you be bringing back the orange festive crisp bar this year? Pleeeeeeasse."
The company responded, writing: "Hi there, we're always adapting our Christmas range to ensure there's something new for everyone. This year, we've made a few updates we think you will love.
"We understand some will miss the Dairy Milk Orange Crisp Bar.
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"Who knows, we might see them again next year. We hope this helps."
The disappointed customer wrote back to say: "Fingers crossed it’s back next year! Me and my friends miss it!"
Aspokesperson from Mondelēz International said: "At Cadbury we’re proud of our long-standing heritage in delivering treats that our fans have enjoyed for over 200 years and we’re always adapting our Christmas range to make sure that it is reflecting changing consumer tastebuds, and there is a range of options available to enjoy.
"In line with this, the Cadbury Dairy Milk Orange Crisp Bar is no longer available, but we have plenty of other delicious options for consumers to choose from in our 2024 festive line-up, including some exciting new treats as well as our beloved Christmas classics and returning favourites like the Cadbury Dairy Milk Mint Crisp Bar."
Cadbury regularly refreshes its product range to introduce new favourites.
It discontinued another orange-flavoured bar earlier this year - Dairy Milk orange.
The 180g snack was launched in 2021 following a surge in popularity for chocolate orange products.
This included Cadbury's orange Twirl in 2019, and Buttons and Fingers in 2020, as well as Tesco's chocolate orange bourbons.
After announcing its iconic Dairy Milk bar would be released with a fruit twist, fans were initially delighted and rushed out to buy it.
Changes to popular chocolate treats can hit fans hard.
Shoppers were in uproar in January after noticing Dairy Milk Marvellous Mix-ups with Oreo have been axed from shelves.
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They were similarly left heartbroken to discover the Cadbury Dairy Milk 30 per cent Less Sugar had also been scrapped, as well as Peanut Caramel Crisp Bars.
This year Cadbury has also come under fire for reducing seven-packs of Animals biscuits to five-packs, although the price is still the same.
Why are products axed or recipes changed?
ANALYSIS by chief consumer reporter James Flanders.
Food and drinks makers have been known to tweak their recipes or axe items altogether.
They often say that this is down to the changing tastes of customers.
There are several reasons why this could be done.
For example, government regulation, like the "sugar tax," forces firms to change their recipes.
Some manufacturers might choose to tweak ingredients to cut costs.
They may opt for a cheaper alternative, especially when costs are rising to keep prices stable.
For example, Tango Cherry disappeared from shelves in 2018.
It has recently returned after six years away but as a sugar-free version.
Fanta removed sweetener from its sugar-free alternative earlier this year.
Suntory tweaked the flavour of its flagship Lucozade Original and Orange energy drinks.
While the amount of sugar in every bottle remains unchanged, the supplier swapped out the sweetener aspartame for sucralose.