Cadbury creamed by customers after reducing the size of its chocolate blocks, again

Chocolate and confectionery giant Cadbury has been harangued by customers after announcing it would be reducing the size of its family chocolate blocks for the second time in five years.

Announcing the change via its Facebook page, Cadbury said customers would soon notice something a “little different” about its family-sized blocks.

Speaking to SmartCompany, director at InsideOut PR Nicole Reaney says the frank and blunt approach from Cadbury about the changes has worked in the company’s favour.

“The worst thing they could do is make the reduction in the hope no consumer would notice — which savvy shoppers and lovers of the block, definitely would have,” she says.

“By doing this, they’ve acknowledged potential reactions by consumers and also voiced a reasonable explanation of the change.”

Some commenters on the post asked what contributing factors led to Cadbury’s costs going up, with the company pinning the increase on cost hikes for energy, ingredients, packaging and transport.

“For the last four years we have absorbed these costs instead of making any changes to the size of our blocks, however, it just isn’t sustainable for us to continue to do that,” a spokesperson for the company explained.

Reaney says the company’s choice of using Facebook to announce the change showed its willingness to respond to customer questions and critiques.

“Selecting a two-way communication channel, like Facebook, is the right approach as it allows consumers to share their views,” she says.

“Also, providing a reason it is attempting to maintain price levels for consumers demonstrates the company is empathetic to consumers and their tightening budgets.”

For the full article head to Smart Company

Nicole Reaney, Director of InsideOut PR and founder of influencer agency, #AsSeenOn . Nicole has extensive experience in corporate and consumer PR and Communications as is available to comment on topics.