Matchmakers - did they think we wouldn't notice!

[GeorgeA12]

Can't believe it....just opened the traditional mint Matchmakers for Christmas. They have only gone and stuck them inside a plastic tray inside the cardboard box in a disguised effort so they are now smaller in length! The matchmakers don't even touch the sides inside the plastic tray.

Over 40 years now I've had these and they always go the width of the box with a black cover over them.

Feel like there should be some law to say that they must put some warning sign on the packaging for three months or so if they make things smaller or change the recipe. I bought this box in good faith as it's the same size as previous years but they didn't tell me they were smaller! I wouldn't have bought them.

Anyone else noticed changes to their favourite Christmas treats or food?

I really wish that the confectionery companies would stop lying about the ever-shrinking treats being supposedly for the benefit of our health and not just for them to make more money. Why do they never reduce the price, if that were actually true?

It reminds me of banks that tell people off for irresponsible use of credit cards, when their whole raison d'etre is counting on people to do exactly that, with responsible users not making them any money.

Whatever happened to the Christmas stocking shaped selection ‘boxes’ with the netting so you could see all the different kinds of chocolate bars/finger of fudge inside?

All the selection boxes are totally enclosed in a plastic tray with plastic wrapping these days (presumably so you can’t see how tiny the chocolate bars are).

Actually a ‘finger of fudge’ has shrunk too :(

I blame Mondalez; a division of Kraft which bought out Cadbury’s, moved most of their production to Eastern Europe (cheaper wages) and changed the recipes to use cheaper, inferior ingredients such as palm oil (which is disastrous for the rain forest eco systems).

Their huge profits are routed through a tax haven in Switzerland (lived there for a few years and a friend worked for Mondalez in Zurich).

Mondelez also bought Milka and, surprise, surprise, ruined it.

Was 'Dark Milk' advertised by Jason Donovan the old-style stuff in disguise then? Wish I'd have know, I'd have given it a go. Is it still going?

How this can get to page 6 and nobody mention Terry's Chocolate Neopolitians is beyond me. I suppose nobody's claiming they've been downgraded because they simply don't exist any more. For me, they were what Christmas was all about, along with The Snow Queen on telly and Santa's sack.

Oh wow....Neopolitans! That's brought back nice memories, loved them as a kid.

Was 'Dark Milk' advertised by Jason Donovan the old-style stuff in disguise then? Wish I'd have know, I'd have given it a go. Is it still going?

I tried one bar and it was nicer, but I wasn't overly feeling the love. There's a rumour that Cadbury's chocolate made in Ireland still uses the old recipe - there are enterprising sellers in NI who will post it UK-wide.

I seem to recall reading that Wispas were impossible to make with the new, cheapened recipe, as it just doesn't work to make the required consistency.

We've also had some Freddos that taste suspiciously like the old Cadbury's chocolate, but it seems kind of random, as plenty of Freddos just taste like the new recipe.

That had me howling thank you I needed that today

I remember when the plastic trays in a box of chocolates were there to hold the contents in place, all nestled neatly together. Now they seem designed to give each chocolate separation anxiety...

So true

Also, remember when the default for a box of chocolates was two layers, if not three?

No surprise everything is shrinking. Matchmaker's are the only mint chocolate I like.

I’m sure loo rolls have less sheets in them too

My god iv e just realised I just willingly accepted this not happening anymore.like iv e been scuppered without egging on to why there is no longer layers.because yes there was the wonderful fact of taking the top layer off to nab your faves from underneath too.bastards.

I want an old-style Walnut Whip. One from when the chocolate was proper, nice chocolate, and there was a walnut inside as well as one of the top.

Oh walnut whips are a massive disappointment now. I used to discard the walnut (probably flicked it at my brother) then get a whole index finger inside to properly scoop out the goo then slowly nibble down chocolate until it became a big chocolate disc at the bottom. This was as a teen/adult in the 80s/90s so I'm not remembering them being massive due to being a tiny child.

I remember Terrys (?) Pyramint as well. Minty stuff inside a chocolate pyramid. Bite the top off and get your finger right in there.

Kit-Kats had the shiny silver wrapper you'd slit with a finger nail.

I have noticed that Freddos often seen better quality chocolate than the others.

There should have been a referendum on chocolate, instead they sneaked it in through the back door.
That said, what are the actual brands? Surely they're not all Nestle/Cadbury etc? Surely there's no legal reason why someone couldn't make chocolate in the old style?
It sort of puts me in mind of vinyl LPs. They do reissue remastered Beatle albums but I've found the quality of modern vinyl often so awful I steer clear. I'd rather pay a bit more to get the originals on eBay it's said the Yellow Label Parlophone records are the best... But vinyl went into decline in quality in the late 80s I think, some think it's to make CDs more appealing relatively speaking.

I remember (ancient ) there used to be an extra piece of chocolate in a box if the weight wasn't up to the declared weight given.

And my Mum always banned us from digging into the 2nd layer until the top layer was eaten (which would mean waiting for the rock hard caramel and the Turkish Delight to be eaten )

This explains why the matchmakers we used this year barely covered the roof of our gingerbread house! I was sure they covered the whole length before and this time they were too short!!

For some reason, the Dairy Milk chunks in time of heroes seem to taste more like the old Dairy Milk. My favourite chocolate at the moment is Yorkie, proper decent size chunks!

I find Milk Tray, Dairy Box, etc inedible nowadays. Does anyone remember Terry's Herlequins? Our neighbours always had them at Christmas, I used to love them.

This Woolworths advert was shared on Facebook yesterday...look at the size of those Tins. Someone pointed out though, that £8.95 is about £35 in todays money!

Yes but I would probably pay £35 if the tin and chocolate were decent! My mum told me today she saw a piece of lamb in M & S yesterday for £50!

My mum always got Black Magic at Christmas, some Neopolitans to share and I’d forgotten there was often an extra chocolate chunk in some boxes to make up the weight! My Grandma always had Spartan (I think that’s the name), white box, all hard centres- anyone remember those?!

Ritter Alpine is proper chunky old school milk chocolate. I love their peppermint chocolate too.

My Grandma always had Spartan (I think that’s the name), white box, all hard centres- anyone remember those ?!

Found a photo of Spartans

Don't remember those but I remember "Biarritz" in a blue triangular box

Could not agree more with the disappointment and frustration at what used to be our nice chocolates in the UK, versions now are sickly, small and bear little resemblance to the original (nice) recipes. Don’t think it will ever go back to how it used to be/ how nice we remember these things being like.

I think the global cocoa shortage has had a big impact on recipes changing and shrinkage. Thinner choc layers, less chocolate in chocolates (I saw something a few years back which said we could expect to see more and more fillers replacing solid chocolate, like caramel, and bars changing shape, as they contain less chocolate and thinner layers of choc) and chocolates generally shrinking ☹️

To be honest I’m not even that bothered bars/ tubs have shrunk as none of them taste good anymore. I’ve even found M&S chocolate (which used to be amazing) quite sickly now 😞

@70isaLimitNotaTarget wow, thanks for finding that! Don’t they look inviting(!)-even the name sounds a bit frugal 😂

That said, what are the actual brands? Surely they're not all Nestle/Cadbury etc?

Oh, there are plenty of brands - and also independents who don't really have a 'brand' as such, just their fine reputation. It's just that, between them, Cadbury's, Nestle and Mars have well over 90% of the market all sewn up.

My favourite chocolate at the moment is Yorkie, proper decent size chunks!

Yes, but you only get five of them now; I'm sure it used to be seven?!

Do others remember those tiny little Dairy Milk chocolate bars you used to get - they also sold little home-use dispensers for them, which doubled as money boxes to collect 2p coins. I don't know why, but they always used to taste the very best of them all!

Yes I had a cadburys money box/vending machine that took 2p coins. It was one of my most exciting Christmas presents. Do they still sell the mini bars? I think I saw them in the cadbury shop a few years ago.

Animal bars used to be amazing chocolate that made a lovely crack sound as you bit into it. That was when they were long and thin in shape. They're oily tasting now.