Business
Chocolate Makers Try a New Recipe: Less Chocolate
The soaring cost of cocoa has made candy manufacturers crank out new treats with less of the expensive ingredient—or none at all.
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When Mars Inc. made a quiet tweak to its popular Galaxy chocolate bar last year, shaving 10 grams off the standard product size and repackaging the leaner treat without lowering the price, UK shoppers were surprised—but cocoa traders weren’t.
The 113-year-old company, best known for its packaged sweets including Twix and M&M’s, appeared to be taking a well-used page from the confectioners’ playbook: When the cost of cocoa rises, they find ways to sell households smaller doses of chocolate—or, for some candy makers, new goodies with no chocolate at all.