đź”»The Quiet Disappearance of Real Chocolate - Cypher News

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When ingredients get expensive, definitions start changing.

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If a label needs more words, something real was removed.

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Corporations didn’t make chocolate worse by accident.

BRIEFING

Grant here. It really seems like slowly but surely all the foods we buy and consume are being quietly and covertly replaced with imposters. And what’s more, it’s literally happening right under our noses. The latest victim in this secret swap-out is chocolate, the decadent, velvety treat that we all eat by the pound. Basically, what looks like a harmless label change on your favorite chocolate bar is actually a signal of how corporations respond when real ingredients get too expensive to keep using. Let’s break it down.

Over the past few years, cacao prices have exploded, up more than 250 percent. It’s a massive increase, and that kind of spike forces companies to make a big decision. They can either raise prices and risk backlash or quietly change what’s inside the wrapper and hope no one notices. Not too surprisingly, many major brands chose the second option.

Now when you look at a label, more and more products now say “chocolate flavor” or “chocolatey coating” instead of just plain chocolate. In places like the UK, those products no longer meet the legal definition because the cocoa content has dropped too low. In the U.S. however, our looser standards have made the downgrade easier to hide.

SOURCE

Everyone needs to start checking chocolate products before purchasing

“This is the first time in human history corporations are selling you chocolate that can no longer legally be called chocolate.”

“To classify a product as chocolate, the UK requires at least 20-25% cocoa (only 10% in America). So many popular brands, including a slew of Nestle products, have quietly changed their labels to chocolate flavor coating.

Cacao prices have shot up 250% over the past 3 years, so Big Food has reformulated to more vegetable oils, sugars, and other fillers. Major brands like Hershey, Mondelez, and Barry Callebaut are also cutting back for less cocoa usage.

With input prices rising, there seems to be Either corporations continue to swap real ingredients for fillers to keep prices the same or content is kept similar but the price gets pushed to the consumer.

Watch out for this over the holidays and expect to pay a little more for properly sourced and formulated products.”

This entire phenomenon is commonly referred to as “shrinkflation,” and it’s definitely not just limited to chocolate.

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As a matter of fact, many snacks found in grocery aisles all across America are quietly reducing container volume big time, while packaging looks virtually identical. And, of course, the prices stay virtually the same.

However, there’s now some silver lining forming in the growing awareness around shrinkflation. Yep, brands know we’re now hip to their game, and they’re reversing course big time, now promising to start putting more chips back in the bag, so to speak.

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Up until recently, companies got away with giving angry customers the silent treatment or by putting out some carefully worded statement in an attempt to get back in their good graces. Their statements would often read something like: We hear your frustration but c’mon, have some pity on us too. Oh, and by the way, we didn’t raise our prices as much as everyone is claiming so we’re not the bad guys here.

Then, after companies like McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King started seeing their revenue slide, they unveiled value menus and promos and, in some cases, promised to be more judicious about raising prices.

Still, complaints about shrinkflation and skimpflation seemingly went unaddressed by companies. That’s finally starting to change.

After fans of Whole Foods’ iconic Berry Chantilly Cake took to social media to rant about ingredient changes, the Amazon-owned grocery chain had an usually quick response, informing customers that the cake would soon revert to its original recipe.

But wait — it gets even better!

PepsiCo, the owner of Lay’s, Doritos, Tostitos and Ruffles chips, announced it will put more chips in some bags that had mysteriously gotten lighter. A PepsiCo spokesperson told my colleague Nathaniel Meyersohn that Tostitos and Ruffles “bonus” bags will contain 20% more chips for the same price as standard bags in select locations. The company is also adding two additional small chip bags to its 18-bag variety pack, the spokesperson said.

DEBRIEFING

The big picture here is that what’s happening to chocolate isn’t some quirky food industry footnote. It’s part of a much larger pattern most people now recognize as shrinkflation. When real ingredients get expensive, companies don’t just raise prices. They quietly reduce volume, swap inputs, or redefine the product altogether, all while keeping the packaging familiar enough that most consumers rarely notice.

Chocolate just happens to be one of the latest culprits. Or at least, the latest one we’re all starting to take note of. And that’s the key; we’re all thankfully becoming more aware and calling out these corrupt corporations on their games.

For a long time, companies could get away with it. PR teams were hired, and complaints were often brushed off with carefully worded statements about rising costs and shared sacrifice. Things like “We hear you” or “We’re doing our best.” But those scripts have run thin with the American people who are barely scraping by, living paycheck to paycheck most times.

NOW YOU KNOW

When costs rise, honesty is usually the first casualty.