Customers boycott Creme Eggs after recipe change

Cadbury's is gearing up for a PR offensive in the run-up to Easter to try and woo customers back onto Creme Eggs.

This time last year, the US owner, Mondelez, changed the recipe, replacing Dairy Milk chocolate with a cheaper, sweeter version. Adding insult to injury, it also cut the number of eggs in a pack from six to five.

Customers were up in arms, threatening to boycott the eggs. On Twitter, they branded the new chocolate shell as 'horrid', complaining of its texture as well as its taste.

And, research for The Grocer by analysts IRI shows, they have followed through on their threat, with overall sales of Cadbury's Easter eggs dropping by £10 million.

Creme Eggs show the biggest fall of all, while sales of the company's novelty Egg 'n' Spoon treats with a chocolate or vanilla filling fell by £1.2 million.

Cadbury's defends the recipe change. "The fundamentals of the Cadbury Creme Egg remain exactly the same as the original in 1971 recipe with delicious Cadbury chocolate and a unique gooey creme filling. In fact, only six out of 45 years of gooey history saw the shell made with Cadbury Dairy Milk," a spokesman tells the Daily Telegraph.

"Cadbury remains the number one treat at Easter. The Easter 'season' changes every year depending on when Easter falls. It was two weeks shorter in 2015 than 2014 so it's hard to compare like for like."
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The 200-year-old firm makes more than 200 million Creme Eggs a year at its Bournville factory, although they're only available in the months leading up to Easter.

And this year there will be more competition than ever, with Mars planning to launch Galaxy Golden Eggs and Ferrero launching a new Kinder Joy egg. Sales will be even harder to come by in a shorter season, with Easter it's earliest since 2008.

As a result, Cadbury is planning to promote Creme Eggs heavily in the run-up to Easter. According to the London Evening Standard, for example it's planning to capitalise on the trend for quirky pop-up cafes by opening a Creme Egg-themed venue on Soho's Greek Street.

However, last year's promotions - which included a six-person bicycle stunt, a 'Joynormous' vending machine manned by Freddie Flintoff and a travelling advent calendar - clearly didn't do the trick.