Dark Chocolate options disappearing?

[Modusop]

Anyone noticed this trend? First it was the dark chocolate bounty, now the mint munchies are gone. I’m noticing the dark chocolate terrys orange is elusive this year in favour of the new terrys mint and and milk chocolate orange. Maya Gold seems to have disappeared as well. In the supermarkets here I used to be able to get dark chocolate Lindt with hazelnut or the Montezuma Black Forest But now I have to go to Waitrose in another town to get those.

I thought dark chocolate was popular but it seems to be disappearing off the shelves and as someone who dislikes milk chocolate this is very upsetting, what is going on???

Probably as dark chocolate is supposed to have a higher cocoa content (which is more expensive).
Replace the cocoa with sugar or fats etc - expect it’s cheaper to make.

@Decisionsdecisions1 Probably the case, I’d be happier to pay extra for decent chocolate I enjoy. I have no other vices really but the offerings available at the local shops such as Cadbury’s bars and the like are pretty grim to my taste.

Lidls is good

We do our shopping online - though are lucky enough to have M&S, co-op and Lidl locally (Lidl is fantastic for good dark chocolate).

mito - crossed posts!

I didn't know mint Munchies had gone!

I get the impression that in large-bar form there is actually more choice these days for the dark chocolate lover. If you're happy to pay more for premium brands then most supermarkets have a good selection.
I also recommend Lidl. Their chocolate is usually lovely.

The cost of cocoa has dramatically increased over last 18mths or so. Expect this plays a major part in manufacturers decisions, particularly re lower selling items.

I noticed the other day that the small corner shops are not stocking dark chocolate even a local Jacks/Tesco.

There have been chocolate crop failures and so the price has gone through the roof, there is a shortage of cocoa beans. Good quality chocolate will be harder to find and more expensive. Cheaper chocolate bars might be smaller or have a lower percentage cocoa solids than before.

Yes, I noticed this too. Dark chocolate is now much more expensive than it was, say, 5 years ago and there are fewer options. I still buy it because I love it though.

dark chocolate bounty 😢😢😢
at least now I know that I’m not the only one who’s missing it.

No matter how good or how cheap the 'milk' choc.
I want DARK chocolate.

It's so annoying! DM is going through a phase of loving it and I can rarely find anything that's not Bournville. I can get a Lindt dark/hazelnut bar in our petrol station but it's £4.95 a time 😢

I've been seeing a lot of ads from Cadbury for new chocolate bars that are filled with various different fillings, so even milk chocolate is obviously much more expensive for them.

I can still get a wide range of Lindt bars in my local Dunnes, my favourite is the 85% but I also like the Raspberry, Mint and Orange and Almond.

I'm not having issues in the bigger supermarkets. My local Morrissons has both dark chocolate terry's chocolate orange and dark chocolate blue riband, as well as the usual dark chocolate fingers. They also stock Fry's Chocolate Cream/Mint/Orange and other options.
New this year is as well as the Lindt 70% dark truffles, they're also doing 70% dark mint truffles. 👀
I don't know about the blocks of dark choc though as I don't like those.

I think it's where you look though because my local corner shop has absolutely zero dark chocolate, and I am definitely still mourning the loss of the dark chocolate bounty.

Agree with PPs about Lidl! Great range of choices in the Fin Carre and J D Gross ranges. I just polished off the last of the dark chocolate almond and orange and am contemplating getting either the whole hazelnut or the salted caramel when I go later. Also they have a range of cocoa levels in the plain J D Gross bars, from (I think) around 45% up to 90/95%.

The Aldi mosser Roth dark range is really good and the cadburys dark milk is nice but not that dark

I noticed our local shop has no dark chocolate options and frankly with the exception of Freddos milk chocolate is not nice these days!

Is dark chocolate the in name for what we used to call 'plain' chocolate?

I read years ago that due to climate change, less, or more rainfall, rising temperatures where it's grown, the cocoa plant is not doing so well these days.
Like a lot of other plants ( tea and coffee, for example) it's been affected, and it costs more, because there's less of it, which gets passed along to the chocolate companies and consumers, of course.
Also, and here's the thing that put me off, the darker the chocolate, the more cocoa has heavy metals in it! Yeah, like lead! It's not the nicest thing to think about when you're snacking on a bar of it, or sharing it with your DCs :(((

I really miss dark Bounty. I keep getting a craving for them :(

Try aldi OP. These are just some of the dark ones I found online. I'm getting hungry now! 😋

I think plain chocolate is more around 50-60% cocoa whereas dark is 70% and more.

I've been stockpiling the Waitrose No 1 90% bars each time I go in as they're on offer for £1.80, which seems the cheapest you can get higher % dark chocolate at the moment. I've not looked in Lidl, but I think the Aldi one contains emulsifier.

Ritter sport has gone up massively. Used to be £1.50. Then £1.65. Currently well over £2.00, maybe £2.30 😣