Why Some Twix Bars Might Be Getting Smaller
Whether you're team left or right Twix, you're probably not someone who thinks there should be less of this chocolatey candy bar. Although this crunchy treat is popular in the U.S., Brits also love Twix, even though they claim that chocolate tastes different across the pond (via Insider). Surprisingly, this is not a matter of opinion or pride in one's country, but a difference in regulations for milk chocolate. Per Insider, the UK requires a higher concentration of cocoa than the U.S., plus American companies tend to add a bit more sugar.
Taste testers also detect a textural difference when tasting Cadbury chocolate bars made in the U.S. versus the UK because the British allow "non-cocoa vegetable fats" to be added to the bar, resulting in a creamier texture (via BBC). Cadbury bars are made by two different companies in each country, which makes the discrepancies more understandable, but Twix bars are made by Mars, Inc. in both nations. Even though you'd expect the product to be consistent in both countries, the British have been the first to report on the "shrinkflation" happening to this beloved candy bar (via Mirror).
Rising costs, shrinking Twix
Inflation has been a hot topic recently due to issues brought on by COVID and the war in Ukraine, but have you heard of "shrinkflation"? According to CFI, it's a hidden form of inflation where companies sell a smaller version of a product for the same price. One of the latest victims of shrinkflation is Twix bars, which are now 15% smaller in the UK, according to LadBible.
"At Mars we have been absorbing the rising costs of raw materials and operations for some time, but the growing pressures we are facing mean that more needs to be done," a spokesperson told The Mirror. Cocoa prices, for example, have gone up nearly 10% since December 2021, which means chocolate could soon be more expensive (via NY Post). At this time, British outlets are the only ones to report on the tiny Twix bars, so it's possible this is only happening in that market. Plus, if candy bars were shrinking in the U.S., there would most likely be a huge uproar.