Mcvitie's Club and Penguins bars no longer considered chocolate

McVitie’s has changed the recipes of its Penguin and Club bars as manufacturers re-evaluate their costs in line with soaring cocoa prices, as Warren Nettleford reports.

Two of Britain’s most-loved chocolate biscuits can no longer be described as chocolate, as they do not contain enough cocoa.

McVitie’s, the manufacturers behind Penguin and Club bars, say they have changed their recipes due to the rising costs of cocoa.

It now means that the lunch box treats are being redefined as ‘chocolate flavoured’ as opposed to simply ‘chocolate.’

The soaring costs of cocoa has left manufacturers trying to find cross-saving solutions.

Cocoa prices have more than doubled over the past two years due to poor weather and disease in West Africa, which supplies more than 70% of the world’s cocoa.

In a statement to the Guardian, McVitie’s owner, Pladis said: “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.

Speaking to ITV News, chocolate maker Giles Atwell said: “Cocoa prices went up to $12,000 (around £8,945) per tonne – nearly tripling in price.

“That has left all major manufacturers scrambling to find cheaper ways of making chocolate; shrinking bars, shrinking chocolate to get around that.”

‘Chocolate flavouring’ indicates that there are fewer quantities of cocoa in the product, meaning it cannot be labelled as ‘chocolate.’

The two treats now contain more palm oil and shea oil than cocoa, as was first reported by the trade journal, The Grocer.

And with a change in ingredients comes a change in slogan.

The Club bar’s famous jingle, “If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit, join our club…” has been changed to “If you like a lot of biscuit in your break, join our Club”.

Other sweet treat companies have been hit by the cocoa price hike, including Swiss chocolatier Lindt, which increased its price by 15.8% in the first half of 2025.

Lindt said it was able to offset some of the higher cost of cocoa with long-term contracts, but had to pass much of it on to consumers.