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Original poster

What has happened to Quality Street??

101 replies

MomOfTwoGirls2 · 31/12/2019 20:26

I bought a small carton of Quality Street today, more for nostalgia than anything. I used to love Quality Street many years ago when I was a teen. I hadn’t had them in years.
I now only like the 2 toffee sweets!!
Have they changed? Or is it my taste buds that have changed?

OP posts:
Softskin88 · 31/12/2019 22:53

This explains why Cadbury’s aren’t as good as they used to be...

www.ft.com/content/1cb06d30-332f-11e1-a51e-00144feabdc0

Quality Street used to be made by a company called MacIntosh’s and are now Nestle.

GladAllOver · 31/12/2019 22:58

Cadbury have been introducing other cheap ingredients as well as palm oil. Have a look at the labels on their products. They use these fats because they are cheaper than cocoa butter.

GeorgiaGirl52 · 31/12/2019 23:06

I loved Fryes bars and ordered some this Christmas. They are still better than what we can get here but not as good as I remember. The chocolate is tasteless.

DilysMoon · 31/12/2019 23:13

Agree they are disgusting. I've never liked them much but we were given a box this xmas. They stink! The green triangles were the only decent ones and they don't taste of anything. They're the only chocolate left in the house and noone is touching them.....

IceniSky · 31/12/2019 23:14

There wasnt any green triangles in my tin!

kerkyra · 31/12/2019 23:25

Four green triangles in my tin.
The orange crunch ones are so waxy that I just cant believe the change in the taste

SnorkMaiden81 · 31/12/2019 23:32

We had a bag of Miniature Heroes and a bag of Celebrations this Xmas. The celebrations were passable but the miniature heroes were basically just individually wrapped sugar cubes! No creaminess, no chocolatey taste just sugar, sugar sugar.
I gave up after a few. Horrible.

NightsOfCabiria · 31/12/2019 23:33

Ah yes, the vomity stench. Why does it do that? Does palm oil go off? It leaves a horrible burning sensation in my throat and makes my teeth zing. Awful stuff.

FenellaVelour · 31/12/2019 23:37

Palm oil as everyone else has said. Foul stuff in every way.

NightsOfCabiria · 31/12/2019 23:38

Favarger chocolate from Switzerland is the best in my opinion. I try to get some whenever I’m there or bribe friends and colleagues to bring some over with them.

LittleBearPad · 31/12/2019 23:39

Nestle have made quality street since 1988. I doubt their involvement is the reason - palm oil may be.

The peanut cracknel was horrible but I have a lovely tin with all my favourites and no toffees or coconut.

TisConfusion · 31/12/2019 23:42

Also bought a small carton of quality street - horrible! Think it’ll be the last I ever buy!

notthemum · 01/01/2020 00:00

Haven't tried these this year but bought a tub from Sainsbury (own make & way cheaper. They were fab. Even have what they are printed on the wrapper.

MontStMichel · 01/01/2020 00:11

ITA - I won’t be buying Quality St, Roses or Heroes next Christmas! Traditional sweets all the way!

Sarcelle · 01/01/2020 00:16

I stopped eating chocolate altogether for the last 3 years. It all started to taste odd. Cadbury's became rank.

Twofurrycatsagain · 01/01/2020 00:20

I've never forgiven them for taking the gooseberry one out. YANBU the quality of the chocolate is no where near as good.

Beamur · 01/01/2020 00:24

Well, DD and I are munching our way through a tub and they're not all bad.

Handoverthechocollate · 01/01/2020 00:43

Quality street are now completely disgusting and far too sweet and gloopy. Yuck! Avoid at all costs.

Christmasquestion · 01/01/2020 00:48

Most of them taste the same to me but the soft caramel ones aren’t nice and neither are the new brownie caramel ones. I miss the old sweets they had in the 80s and early 90s - peanut cracknel and montelimar.

Roses are utterly disgusting now, especially the hazel in caramel
And the caramel barrel which used to be the nicest ones. They taste of rancid fat.

Leflic · 01/01/2020 01:35

montelimar the nougat one! Yes I miss that one. Agreed that they are all very pappy, soft and similar tasting these days.

Iamthewombat · 01/01/2020 01:48

What can you expect when QS and Roses are being sold at £4 per tub on multi-buy deals? I know that the tubs are much smaller than the tins used to be but seriously, are you expecting high quality chocolates for that?

Whether we like it or not, we, the consumers, have voted with our feet. If Cadbury’s reverted to the old Roses recipe, and dispensed with the cheap fats, I bet their sales would fall off a cliff because the sweets would be more expensive. We have encouraged the manufacturers to commoditise (is that a word?) QS, Roses etc by being price driven.

Incidentally, that is also the reason why you have fewer green triangles in your tub of Quality Street. They are one of the most expensive to manufacture because of the high proportion of chocolate rather than cheaper ingredients, like the fruit creams or toffees.

justcly · 01/01/2020 01:56

I believe Hotel Chocolat's stuff is palm oil free, although it is expensive.

Also Tony Chocolonely, Moo Free, Divine, Booja Booja, Seed and Bean, Montezuma, and the Raw Chocolate Company.

Gingernaut · 01/01/2020 18:36

Hotel Chocolat is hit and miss.

Anything containing fudge or caramel will probably contain margarine, which routinely contains palm oil these days. 😢

Green & Black's also have palm oil in some of their varieties.

ScreamingLadySutch · 01/01/2020 19:03

The only chocolate I have found that does not contain palm oil, is Lindt.

We need to boycott Nestle and Montelez (Cadburys)

ScreamingLadySutch · 01/01/2020 19:06

@Iamthewombat spot on.

personally I am prepared to pay if they went back to the old recipe ...