‘It’s just not right’: consumers decry changes to Quality Street chocolates | Nestlé | The Guardian

The Purple One and Orange Crunch are both lighter and now the same shape as the Caramel Swirl

First they ditched the plastic wrappers, then they introduced paper tubs. But for many, changing the shape and size of some of the nation’s favourite Quality Street chocolates was a step too far.

Nestlé announced the shape changes to the Purple One and Orange Crunch in March, but shoppers realised they were lighter too. They are both now the same shape as the Caramel Swirl.

In its former Brazil-nut shape, the unwrapped Purple One weighed 9.59g. It now weighs 8.46g. The unwrapped weight of the new-shaped Orange Crunch also reduced slightly, from 9.06g to 8.72g.

The chocolates will still be in their coloured wrappers and their flavours will remain the same, Nestlé said.

One shopper airing their annoyance about the changes to the Purple One said Nestlé had “destroyed the shape, size, taste and texture”.

Writing on X, another said: “Absolutely NO! Quality Street, the purple one has shrunk, its round plain wrapper not shiny. It’s just not right.”

However, there has been no change to the overall weight of the box. A tub of Quality Street in 2024 comes in at 600g, the same weight as a tub in 2023.

A Nestlé spokesperson said: “The new-shaped The Purple One and Orange Crunch sweets are slightly lighter than the previous-shaped sweets, but the net weight of the tub remains the same.

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“This means people are still getting the same amount of delicious Quality Street product they know and love – just in a slightly different format.”

Some customers were not impressed when Nestlé launched tubs made out of paper last month, available exclusively at some Tesco stores. It was the same “shape you know and love, but now even easier to recycle”, the company said in its website.