Toblerone is facing a mountain of criticism for changing the shape of its famous triangular candy bars in British stores, a move it blames on rising costs.
Consumers in the U.K. noticed they were getting less chocolate in some bars because of bigger gaps between the distinctive chocolate peaks.
Modelez International, the U.S. company that makes the bars, said it was forced to widen the spaces because of "higher costs for numerous ingredients.”
It said bars in the U.K. were being reduced from 14.1 oz to 12.7 oz and 6 oz to 5.3 oz but the size of the packaging remains the same.
In a statement on the Toblerone Facebook page, the company said it had to “make a decision between changing the shape of the bar, and raising the price.”
But the changes have left a bitter taste in the mouth of some fans of the airport favorite.
"The shape of the bar may of looked like the Swiss Alps before, now it's a bit more Holland,” a disappointed Tony Mathews wrote on Toblerone’s Facebook page.
Others compared the new shape to a bicycle rack and wondered why the company would mess with the feature that made the product so unique.
"From the marketing point of view your distinctive shape is far more important than price. You should have increased price instead of losing the shape. Whoever had that idea should be sacked," said Aleksandra MI.
Some linked the change to Brexit, which has been blamed by a slew of companies for U.K. price rices amid the falling value of the pound since the Jun. 23 vote to leave the European Union.
Tech giant Apple has raised the costs of some of its products in the U.K. by 20 percent while the price of popular food spread Marmite jumped by 12 percent at supermarkets.
However, a spokeswoman for Mondelez denied there was any link to the Britain's plans to leave the E.U. She acknowledged the current foreign exchange rate was "not favorable” but told the BBC: "This change wasn’t done as a result of Brexit.”
