How Pladis Tackles Cocoa Crisis With McVitie's Reformulation

Global supply chain disruption in the cocoa market has led food manufacturer Pladis to reformulate the coatings on its McVitie's Penguin and Club bars.

The move highlights the severe cost pressures and sourcing challenges facing the sector, forcing businesses to adapt legacy products and reconsider procurement strategies.

The change means the snacks are now legally labelled as having a “chocolate flavour” coating rather than being made with milk chocolate.

The root of the issue lies in the UK’s primary cocoa sourcing regions, the Ivory Coast and Ghana, which supply more than half of all cocoa beans.

These West African nations have experienced significant weather disruption. According to reports from the region in 2023, rainfall was more than double the 30-year average, which encouraged the spread of black pod disease, damaging crops before harvest.

This was followed by a drought in early 2024, which was exacerbated by the El Niño weather phenomenon.

Scientists at World Weather Attribution stated the subsequent heatwave was made 10 times more likely and 4°C hotter because of climate change.

This instability has hampered farmers' ability to produce a reliable harvest, creating a significant shortfall in global supply.

Procurement pressures and market volatility

The direct consequence of the harvest failures has been a sharp increase in market prices, with cocoa remaining 3 times higher in 2025 than it was in 2022.

For the UK, the situation has been particularly difficult. Over two years, cocoa imports have fallen by 10% while prices have risen by 20%.

This environment of scarcity and high cost puts considerable strain on procurement teams across the food and beverage industry.

For a company like Pladis, which owns brands such as McVitie's, Godiva, Go Ahead and Jacobs this volatility necessitates a direct response to protect commercial viability.

Mario Reis, Chief Supply Chain Officer at Pladis, is responsible for managing such risks at a global level.

Reformulation as a strategic response

In response, Pladis has altered its product formulation. Pladis has moved away from using cocoa butter and cocoa solids for the coatings on Penguin and Club bars.

Instead, it has substituted these with alternative fats such as palm oil and shea oil. These ingredients offer greater price stability and have more resilient supply chains, often originating from Southeast Asia and West Africa. This change in procurement, however, has direct regulatory consequences.

Under UK food standards, a product must contain at least 20% cocoa solids to be marketed as “milk chocolate”.

As the reformulated bars no longer meet this requirement, they must be labelled differently.

Pladis confirmed the decision, stating: “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.”

Pladis maintains that the product’s taste profile has not been compromised.

“Sensory testing with consumers shows the new coatings deliver the same great taste as the originals," Pladis explains.

Despite this, the alteration has meant that the well-known slogan on Club bars, "If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit, join our club”, has been changed, reflecting the new reality of the product's composition.

Wider inflationary context for manufacturers

The challenge faced by Pladis is indicative of a wider trend impacting the food industry.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), as of March 2025, overall food inflation sits at 3.1%. The inflation for chocolate-specific products, however, has reached nearly 17%.

This disparity places manufacturers in a difficult position as they attempt to absorb rising input costs while consumers are simultaneously facing a higher cost of living.

The adjustments made by Pladis could signal a potential path for other companies navigating similar commodity shortages and price hikes.

The core challenge remains balancing operational costs and supply chain resilience with the need to maintain brand integrity and consumer trust.