It is the silent downgrade of the sweet tooth’s staple. Two of Nestlé’s most iconic confectionery bars—Toffee Crisp and Blue Riband—have been stripped of their official “milk chocolate” status, a move that signals a deepening era of “skimpflation” in the global food industry.

The Swiss food giant has quietly reformulated the recipes, replacing cocoa butter with cheaper vegetable fats. Consequently, the bars can no longer legally be sold as milk chocolate under UK trading standards. Instead, the packaging now describes them as being “encased in a smooth milk chocolate flavour coating.”

The Vegetable Oil Swap

The change hinges on a specific regulatory threshold. In the UK—whose food standards often mirror or influence Kenya’s own Bureau of Standards (KEBS) regulations—a product must contain at least 20% cocoa solids to carry the prestigious “milk chocolate” label. By increasing the ratio of palm, shea, or coconut oils, Nestlé’s new recipe fell below this mark.

While the company insists the changes were “carefully developed and sensory tested,” the shift represents a significant downgrade in ingredient quality. For the consumer, it is a subtle but critical difference: you are no longer eating chocolate; you are eating a chocolate-flavoured edible oil compound.

A Global Cocoa Squeeze

Nestlé’s decision is not an isolated case of corporate penny-pinching but a symptom of a volatile global commodity market. The price of cocoa has remained stubbornly high following a historic surge earlier this year.

• Record Highs: In January 2025, cocoa prices hit a record $12,000 per tonne (approx. KES 1.55 million).
• Current Reality: While prices have since cooled to around $6,100 per tonne (approx. KES 790,000), they remain more than double the historical average of the last decade.
• The Cause: Severe weather patterns in West Africa—specifically Ghana and Ivory Coast, which produce the bulk of the world’s supply—have decimated harvests.

For Kenyan shoppers, this trend is already visible on supermarket shelves. Imported chocolates are becoming luxury items, while local manufacturers face the same pressure to substitute expensive cocoa butter with affordable vegetable fats to keep the price of a 50g bar within reach of the average wananchi.

Heritage vs. Economics

The downgrade strikes a blow to the heritage of these brands. Blue Riband was launched in 1936, named after the accolade for the fastest transatlantic crossing, while Toffee Crisp has been a favourite since 1963. Both are now technically “compound chocolate” products.

A Nestlé spokesperson defended the move, citing the economic reality: “We’ve seen significant increases in the cost of cocoa over the past years, making it much more expensive to manufacture our products. We continue to be more efficient and absorb increasing costs where possible.”

While the company claims there are no immediate plans to alter other recipes, the precedent is set. As raw material costs bite, the line between “chocolate” and “chocolate-flavoured” is likely to blur further, leaving consumers to check the fine print before they take a bite.