5 Candy Bars That Have Gotten Smaller Over the Years

Have you ever opened a candy bar you loved as a child and thought that it looked a little smaller than you remembered? You might think it’s just you and your perception of the world has changed since childhood. Yes, perception does change, but it turns out so do the sizes of famous candy bars. In fact, plenty of popular chocolate bars have lost a few grams over the years. Interestingly, the prices and the wrappers remained almost the same.

In this article, we’ll let you know which 5 candy bars have gotten noticeably smaller over the years.

1. Toblerone

If there’s one particular memorable example of a chocolate bar that used to be gigantic but got smaller over time, that’s Toblerone for sure. Unlike most manufacturers who managed to reduce sizes without noticeable changes, with Toblerone, it was difficult to adjust the weight and keep the famous triangular design unchanged at the same time. Still, the brand had to reduce the bars because the cost of ingredients and production had increased.

As a result, in 2016, Toblerone bars sold in the United Kingdom were reduced from 170 grams to 150 grams and from 400 grams to 360 grams. The brand didn’t make the entire package smaller, though. Instead, they increased the spaces between the chocolate peaks. The result of this is that the packaging looks exactly the same, but once customers opened it, the missing chocolate was impossible to ignore.

Naturally, people weren’t happy. Yes, you can expect uncertainty when you play online games at Cafe Casino or order a mystery box online, but nobody wants to gamble on how much chocolate they will find inside a familiar package.

2. Cadbury Dairy Milk

Some chocolate brands change the size not just once but a few times, based on the circumstances in the market. Cadbury Dairy Milk is one of the best examples. The first time that happened with the famous Thai chocolate bar was in Britain in 2022, when the bar went from 200 grams to 180 grams. Customers didn’t notice immediately, but they actually received 10% less chocolate, while the recommended price remained around £2.

Later, Mondelez, the company behind Cadbury, had to explain that their decision was because of the rising production costs. Another justification was that this particular bar hadn’t been reduced since 2012. Whether the customers liked this or not, the fact is that most people didn’t stop buying the chocolate bar after the reduction. 

3.  Yorkie

When it comes to choosing a thick and filling chocolate bar, Yorkie often comes to mind. After all, the entire identity of this British chocolate bar was built around the idea that it was chunkier and more substantial than an ordinary candy bar. Well, Yorkie wasn’t reduced from about 70 grams to 46 grams all at once. Instead, the bar became smaller in several stages. 

One of the later reductions was related to Nestlé’s decision to make sure that all of its confectionery products contained no more than 250 calories by the end of 2014. As is assumed, this decision was also related to the public health standards. But one thing is for sure — Yorkie wasn’t forced to reduce the size. The brand just made a voluntary commitment connected to the UK government’s Public Health Responsibility Deal.

4. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

Did you know that everybody’s favorite Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups have also become smaller over time? It’s hard to imagine that something as small as a single peanut butter cup could be made even smaller without customers immediately noticing. But that’s what happened, and probably it was not easy to realize because the change happened gradually. 

In particular, the original Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups weighed about 0.9 ounces. In 1991, the weight was reduced for the first time to 0.8 ounces and then to 0.75 ounces in 2001. In the end, each cup lost around 17% of its original weight. However, the famous orange wrapper and the shape remained almost identical, which is why customers adjusted to the change quickly.

5. Snickers and Mars Bars

Finally, we couldn’t end this list without including everybody’s favorite Snickers and the Mars Bar. Both chocolate bars are produced by Mars, Incorporated, and both became noticeably smaller at around the same time. And this time, the change was easy to notice.

The company made the decision for the UK bars in particular to reduce the weight of Mars Bar 

from 58 grams to 51 grams and Snickers from 58 grams to 48 grams. However, their prices remained the same. The good thing is that the Mars Bar went from 260 to 229 calories, while Snickers fell from 280 to 245 calories. Still, for chocolate lovers, this meant that they were paying exactly the same price but receiving less of their favorite treat.

Bottom Line

No, most candy bars don’t seem smaller because your hands were smaller when you first tried them. Now you already know which candy bars you can line up next to the old wrappers from your childhood. Chances are that you will easily notice the difference. 

Even if manufacturers have their own reasons, for customers, the result is just less chocolate for the same amount of money. That’s why it’s worth checking the weight and price per 100 grams, even when the wrapper looks exactly the way you remember it.