True amount Quality Street, Celebrations and Roses have shrunk over the years

11 December 2023 , 12:40

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The cost of living crisis has hit the iconic Christmas chocolate tubs in a big way (Image: Shutterstock / Craig Russell)

There's no denying the iconic tubs of Quality Street, Celebrations and other Christmas chocolates have shrunk - but the true extent of the shift in size is jaw-dropping.

There's no better feeling than settling down on the sofa, Christmas film on and a fresh tub of Christmas choccy's at the ready, but thanks to "shrinkflation" we're missing out on a lot of chocolate we once used to have.

It means we're paying the same for even less product - and thanks to the cost of living crisis, it's something we all know too well. It's reported that the tubs have shrunk by up to 50 per cent since 2009.

They are the most expensive they have ever been, with a tub of Mars Celebrations costing £5 in 2022, and £5.50 this year. Whereas Nestlé Quality Street's will cost you £6, compared to £5 in 2022. Another stark comparison is the weight. Now, a tub of Celebrations weighs 600g, but 15 years ago, they weighed 975g in a tin- which means we're missing out on 38 per cent of what we used to get.

According to research by Metro, Cadbury's Roses have suffered a woeful fate too. Last Christmas, shops sold 600g and 900g tubs (less than the 1.1kg bumper packs of 2009), with prices ranging from around £4 to £9. However this year there is only a 550g option which is sold on the Cadbury website for £8.09, or in supermarkets for between £3.89 and £5.50.

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Celebration's creator Mars Wrigley says the brand was "actively trying to find ways to absorb the rising costs of raw materials" and Cadbury also claimed it was "experiencing significantly increased input costs" hence the price increase. It seems as if shoppers have been disappointed when cracking open their tubs too, with the noticeable reduction of chocolates inside.

Many have taken to X, formerly known as Twitter to fume about the chocolate tubs. "Size of those tins of Quality Street. We're being robbed on the confectionery tub front nowadays," one person commented, while another echoed: "Opened a tub of Quality Street chocolates, geez same size of box with half the contents of previous years."

It seems as if people are feeling the same for Roses, as one fan said: "Weekend purchased 2 tubs of Roses. Got home and thought 'Here we go again' last year 600g this year same size tub, but 550g. On opening Very disappointed @CadburyUK where are the Roses? Half filled with Dairy Milk. Buyer Beware."

Niamh Kirk