Cadbury Flakes are “too crumbly” as the quality has declined since production moved to Egypt
Ninety-Nine Problems: Cadbury’s makes big changes to Flake – and fans of the iconic ice cream set are furious
- Parent company Mondelēz International shifted production to Egypt in 2020
British ice cream vendors complain that Cadbury Flakes is “too crumbly”.
Millions of the 99 ice cream product are set to be sold over the bank holiday weekend as sellers say they have noticed the quality of the staple chocolate has slipped since parent company Mondelēz International moved production to Egypt in 2020.
Some therefore resort to German alternatives.
They have expressed frustration at having to pay “the highest bucks” for a box of Flakes that then arrives in a pile of shards – with some vendors taking to scattering “chunks” of the broken confectionery over their products.
John Taylor, owner of C&M Creamery Ices, said so BBC: “You can’t give someone a 99 with a broken flake.” It’s embarrassing for an ice cream vendor.’
Ice cream vendors have noticed that the quality of the flakes has dropped significantly since the company moved production to Egypt
Another seller, Lawrence Glauser, owner of Lorenzo’s Ices in East Yorkshire, said he often had to throw away at least a quarter of the boxes because they were no longer usable.
Herr Glauser said: “They charge top money for it, but they arrive like they’ve crashed off a cliff.”
“If you buy five boxes of Flake for an event and find a lot of them are broken, your day is ruined.”
Katy Alison, a van owner in Bognor Regis, said she had to throw out almost half (70) of the flakes in a single box because they were all broken.
A typical box contains 144 Flake 99.
A spokesman for Mondelēz International said: “We care about our loyal customer base and take quality issues very seriously.” Cadbury Flake 99 is an inherently delicate and friable product and we have processes in place in our supply chain to minimize breakage to avoid.
“We are aware that some customers have recently received products that do not meet our usual high standards. This issue has been addressed through improvements to our production processes, although some pre-stock may still be in circulation.
“We are in the process of reaching out to our customers (wholesalers) to support those potentially affected. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.”