Toffee Crisp and Blue Riband no longer called ‘chocolate’ after recipe change
Toffee Crisp and Blue Riband bars can no longer be called chocolate after Nestlé reformulated their recipes due to the increasing cost of ingredients.The Swiss conglomerate now describes the treats as being “encased in a smooth milk chocolate flavour coating”, rather than being covered in milk chocolate.In the UK, a product needs to have at least 20% cocoa solids and 20% milk solids in order to be described as milk chocolate, a level each product fell below after a higher amount of cheaper vegetable fat was used.Nestlé said the changes were necessary due to higher input costs but were “carefully developed and sensory tested”, adding there were no plans to alter the recipes of other chocolate products.A spokesperson for Nestlé said it had 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”,Toffee Crisp was created in 1963 by John Henderson, the great-nephew of the man known as the toffee king John Mackintosh,Blue Riband, which draws its name from the prestigious transatlantic liner award, was launched in 1936 by Gray Dunn & Co in Scotland, a subsidiary of Rowntree’s, later becoming part of Nestlé in 1988,The cost of chocolate has increased sharply as cocoa prices have soared after poor harvests in the key growing regions of Ghana and Ivory Coast over the past three years, amid extreme temperatures and unusual rainfall patterns driven by the climate crisis,In October, McVitie’s reduced the amount of cocoa in the recipes of Club and Penguin bars so much they are now only “chocolate flavour” after parent company Pladis chose to use cheaper alternatives to the main ingredient in chocolate.
Chocolate prices in Britain rose 18,4% compared with last year, analysts at the market research firm Worldpanel said on Tuesday,
‘Every Leon should be magical’: food chain’s co-founder on what went wrong – and how to fix it
John Vincent on bouncing back after cutting branches, refreshing the menu, and staff learning from martial arts John Vincent is going back to the future. Four years after selling Leon, the fast food chain named after his father and founded in 2004 with two friends, he has bought it back with hopes of reviving its fortunes.“In a crisis you need a pilot in full control,” the martial arts fan says, speaking to the Guardian from Leon’s headquarters near London Bridge.He is getting his metaphorical trainers on to “outrun the lion” as he ploughs his efforts and his own money into reviving the troubled chain.The former management consultant bought back Leon for a rumoured £30m-£50m – significantly less than the £100m he sold it for – from the supermarket chain Asda in October, 21 years after the first restaurant opened in Camden
December cut to UK interest rates ‘nailed on’ after economy shrinks unexpectedly by 0.1% in October – as it happened
Economists are convinced that the Bank of England will respond to the UK’s weak economic performance by cutting interest rates next week.The Bank’s monetary policy committee will make its final decision of the year on Thursday 18th December, and a rate cut to 3.75% appears highly likely now that the economy shrunk by 0.1% in October.Ruth Gregory, deputy chief UK economist at Capital Economics, says:The surprise 0
Crypto mogul Do Kwon sentenced to 15 years in prison for fraud
Do Kwon, the entrepreneur behind two cryptocurrencies that lost $40bn (£29.8bn) three years ago and caused the sector to crash, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for fraud.The South Korean, 34, had pleaded guilty to two counts of US charges of conspiracy to defraud and wire fraud.Kwon, who co-founded Singapore-based Terraform Labs and developed the TerraUSD and Luna currencies, was sentenced at a hearing in New York.The US district judge Paul Engelmayer called his crimes “a fraud of epic generational scale”
Elon Musk teams with El Salvador to bring Grok chatbot to public schools
Elon Musk is partnering with the government of El Salvador to bring his artificial intelligence company’s chatbot, Grok, to more than 1 million students across the country, according to a Thursday announcement by xAI. Over the next two years, the plan is to “deploy” the chatbot to more than 5,000 public schools in an “AI-powered education program”.xAI’s Grok is more known for referring to itself as “MechaHitler” and espousing far-right conspiracy theories than it is for public education. Over the past year, the chatbot has spewed various antisemitic content, decried “white genocide” and claimed Donald Trump won the 2020 election.Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, is now entrusting the chatbot to create curricula in classrooms across the country
Your Guardian sport weekend: Premier League, WSL and NFL action
Yara El-Shaboury is on duty for our essential portal to the weekend’s bumper football programme. She’ll be looking forward to the day’s four Premier League games, Championship, EFL and Scottish Premiership fixtures, sharing breaking news and reader feedback. Why not join the conversation? Send your thoughts to matchday.live@theguardian.com
‘I messaged Sia on Instagram. She didn’t get back to me’: cult darts hero Stephen Bunting on his viral walk-on
The world No 4’s entrance to the song Titanium has become an iconic moment in darts, but while he loves the attention what he really wants is the world title‘There’s a lot of people playing darts who haven’t got no character,” Stephen Bunting says in a matter-of-fact tone, his voice still a little croaky from the cold that has been laying waste to him for the last week. “They’re boring to watch. And that’s probably why they’ll never be in the Premier League. You need to have a personality as well as being at the top of your game. You need to balance both
Damn dalmatian! Fury erupts after David Jones cancels Christmas window display to promote joy of … its loyalty program
EU’s 2035 petrol and diesel car ban will be watered down, says senior MEP
Disney wants you to AI-generate yourself into your favorite Marvel movie
Musk calls Doge only ‘somewhat successful’ and says he would not do it again
Global anti-doping chief admits drugs cheats in sport are escaping detection
Gloucester prop Afo Fasogbon: ‘I’m quite chilled off the pitch – until it’s time to go to work’