Penguin and Club bars can no longer be described as chocolate

McVitie’s Penguin and Club bars are no longer classed as chocolate after rising cocoa prices led the makers to switch to using other ingredients.

Club bars had previously been marketed under the slogan: “If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit, join our club”.

But both treats are now described as “chocolate flavour” because the amount of cocoa they contain has been reduced after owner Pladis had to find cheaper alternatives to the main ingredient in chocolate.

The UK sources cocoa beans from West Africa and poor harvests as a result of severe drought conditions in cocoa-producing countries, such as Ivory Coast and Ghana, have led to restricted supplies and higher prices.

The change to the bars’ ingredients was first reported by trade journal The Grocer.

A spokesperson for Pladis said: “We made some changes to McVitie’s Penguin and Club earlier this year, where we are using a chocolate flavour coating with cocoa mass, rather than a chocolate coating.”

“Sensory testing with consumers shows the new coatings deliver the same great taste as the originals,” the spokesperson added.

The company said it was committed to delivering “great-tasting snacks” while managing rising costs, and it only adjusted its recipes when “necessary”.

Confectionery historian Alex Hutchinson said many confectioners were lowering the amount of cocoa ingredients in their chocolate in favour of cheaper alternatives.

When processed, a cocoa bean becomes cocoa liquor, which contains 50% each of cocoa solids and cocoa butter.

But manufacturers looking to save costs can reduce the amount of ingredients they use which are directly from the bean, and instead use alternatives such as palm oil or shea butter.

For milk chocolate to be classified as such, UK regulations say it should be made up of about 20% cocoa solids, slightly lower than EU regulations which stipulate a minimum of 25%.

The move from Pladis, which owns well-known household favourites such as McVities, Godiva, Go Ahead and Jacobs, means the firm is now using less than 20% cocoa-bean derived ingredients in its “chocolate” coating for Club and Penguin.

Although cocoa commodity prices have eased slightly recently, a surge in costs over the past three years led to pricier Easter eggs and squeezed profit margins at some chocolate-sellers.

“During my lifetime the cost of cocoa has stayed around $3,500 (£2,607) dollars a tonne and last year it soared to $11,500 (£8,567) a tonne,” said Ms Hutchinson.

“Chocolate costs more than ever before,” she added.