QUALITY Street has confirmed it has discontinued an iconic chocolate just weeks before Christmas – leaving shoppers devastated.
The news came after a confused shopper asked where the beloved flavour had gone.
In response to a post on Quality Street’s X page asking “which flavour matchmakers are the favourite in your household?”, he noted that one flavour had gone missing recently.
He wrote: “What happened to the honeycomb?”
A spokesperson for the beloved Christmas brand then replied to his comment, confirming: “Hi Owen. Unfortunately Matchmakers Honeycomb has already been discontinued.”
Matchmakers are crunchy chocolate snacks in the shape of matchsticks that come in a variety of flavours – from mint to orange to hazelnut.
The honeycomb version featured dark chocolate, covered in crispy honeycomb pieces.
It retailed at stores for about £1.50.
Although it can no longer be found at supermarkets, some stores are still selling it online, including eBay and Amazon – with prices hiked to as much as £15.
The product was a hit with chocolate lovers, with many rushing to Amazon to share their glowing reviews.
One wrote: “I opened these to share with the family and secretly could have easily eaten the whole pack in one sitting!
“They are soooo nice, the flavour comes through both in smell and taste.
“Love love this Honeycomb flavour of Quality Street Matchmakers and would definitely recommend.”
Another echoed: “Good flavour and plenty in the box to share unless you’re like me and want them all!”
And a third typed: “If you like Crunchies you’ll love these!”
The news comes just a few days after Quality Street, which is best known for its iconic selection box, axed another of its products.
The controversial Collisions Bar combined the flavours of two beloved Quality Street choccies – The Purple One and the Green Triangle.
It featured gooey caramel, creamy hazelnut and crunchy hazelnut pieces in three delicious layers.
At the time of its debut, shoppers went wild, with one writing: “My two favourite ones in the same bar.”
But shoppers noticed this month that the beloved bar had disappeared from the shelves, with one asking on X: “Has the Collisions Bar been discontinued?
“I can’t find it anymore it was my favourite chocolate bar of all time.”
In response, Quality Street stated: “Unfortunately, it wasn’t as popular as others in the range, so it has been discontinued.”
Quality Street is a brand by chocolate giant Nestle, which is also responsible for KitKat and Smarties.
Why are products axed or recipes changed?
ANALYSIS by chief consumer reporter James Flanders.
Food and drinks makers have been known to tweak their recipes or axe items altogether.
They often say that this is down to the changing tastes of customers.
There are several reasons why this could be done.
For example, government regulation, like the “sugar tax,” forces firms to change their recipes.
Some manufacturers might choose to tweak ingredients to cut costs.
They may opt for a cheaper alternative, especially when costs are rising to keep prices stable.
For example, Tango Cherry disappeared from shelves in 2018.
It has recently returned after six years away but as a sugar-free version.
Fanta removed sweetener from its sugar-free alternative earlier this year.
Suntory tweaked the flavour of its flagship Lucozade Original and Orange energy drinks.
While the amount of sugar in every bottle remains unchanged, the supplier swapped out the sweetener aspartame for sucralose.
QUALITY STREET CHANGES FOR 2024
Customers discovered they can no longer visit their local John Lewis store to create personalised Quality Street tins this week.
The service allowed shoppers to purchase a £17 tin with a personalised gift card and lid.
They could then fill these tins with their favourite Quality Street chocolates from dedicated pick-and-mix counters at John Lewis.
However, while the pick-and-mix counters still exist, shoppers can’t get a personalised Quality Street tin this winter.
Instead, they must opt for the £12 non-customised version.
However, Nestle launched a new version of its 813g Quality Street tin in September.
The £12 tub features all the usual classic flavours and plays on Quality Street’s Halifax heritage – where it was first manufactured in 1936 and still is.
It can also be purchased empty and filled at any of John Lewis’ Quality Street pick and mix stations.
If you’re not fussed about the nostalgic tin or picking your chocolates, you’ll pay less for a different tub or packet.
This week, shoppers can pick up a plastic 600g tub from Lidl for £4.
You can also pick up a 300g sharing bag of Quality Street from Home Bargains for just £2.99 – £1 per 100g.
Nestle has also brought back a Quality Street fan-favourite for the second Christmas in a row.
The coffee creme flavour chocolate was last seen in Quality Street tubs over 20 years ago until the chocolatier reintroduced it last year.
Instead, the coffee-flavour fondant wrapped in dark chocolate has joined the 11 other Quality Street sweets at pick-and-mix stations across selected John Lewis stores in the UK.
They are also available in a limited-edition cracker at Waitrose and John Lewis stores for £5.50.
For the first time ever, Nestle is launching paper Quality Street tubs.
The tubs are available at 60 Tesco supermarkets.
Their introduction is part of a trial, and Nestle will gauge the product’s popularity among shoppers.
It claims the paper tub, adorned in the signature Quality Street purple, boasts a luxurious design and feel.
They feature a “re-close” mechanism that ensures the lid can be securely sealed even after opening.
This isn’t the first time Quality Street has introduced new packaging to make the festive favourites easier to recycle.
Nestle left shoppers outraged when it changed the Quality Street chocolate wrappers for the same reason in October 2022.
The iconic brightly coloured plastic and foil wrappers that had encased its famous chocolates for 86 years were replaced with a more understated form of waxed paper.
However, the introduction of new paper tubs does not signal the immediate discontinuation of plastic and metal Quality Street tins.
Shoppers can still buy 600g plastic tubs of Quality Street chocolates at most major supermarkets.
Tins containing over 800g of the festive chocolates continue to be available too.
How to save money on chocolate
We all love a bit of chocolate from now and then, but you don't have to break the bank buying your favourite bar.
Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how to cut costs…
Go own brand – if you’re not too fussed about flavour and just want to supplant your chocolate cravings, you’ll save by going for the supermarket’s own brand bars.
Shop around – if you’ve spotted your favourite variety at the supermarket, make sure you check if it’s cheaper elsewhere.
Websites like Trolley.co.uk let you compare prices on products across all the major chains to see if you’re getting the best deal.
Look out for yellow stickers – supermarket staff put yellow, and sometimes orange and red, stickers on to products to show they’ve been reduced.
They usually do this if the product is coming to the end of its best-before date or the packaging is slightly damaged.
Buy bigger bars – most of the time, but not always, chocolate is cheaper per 100g the larger the bar.
So if you’ve got the appetite, and you were going to buy a hefty amount of chocolate anyway, you might as well go bigger.
