If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit, there’s bad news: biscuit makers have been turning to a “chocolate flavour coating” to dodge rising cocoa prices.
The likes of Club and Penguin reduced the amount of cocoa in their recipes earlier this year to the point that they can no longer be described as chocolate biscuits, it has now emerged.
They contain more palm oil and shea oil than cocoa, according to industry magazine The Grocer.
McVitie’s owner, Pladis, insisted the new coatings deliver “the same great taste as the originals”.
Yet they’ve changed Club’s famous slogan from “if you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit, join our Club” to “if you like a lot of biscuit in your break, join our Club”.
A Pladis spokesperson said: “We are using a chocolate flavour coating with cocoa mass, rather than a chocolate coating.
“Sensory testing with consumers shows the new coatings deliver the same great taste as the originals.
“We’re committed to delivering great-tasting snacks while minimising the impact of rising costs on consumers, adjusting formulations only when necessary.”
Why have cocoa prices soared?
Cocoa prices have soared for several years now after poor harvests in West Africa, which accounts for approximately 70% of global cocoa production.
Heavy rains in late 2023 triggered black pod disease and crop rot, while subsequent El Nino-induced droughts in 2024 increased the prevalence of cocoa swollen shoot virus disease.
Global cocoa production fell 12.9% year-on-year. Production in Ivory Coast, the world’s biggest producer, dropped 25.3%, while Ghana’s output declined 31.3%.