Quality Street fans angry as Nestlé changes wrapping on two chocolates

Fans complained the chocolates look “unrecognisable” this year after the foil change
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Quality Street fans may find a surprise in their tubs this Christmas as Nestlé confirms two chocolates will look different this year.

A shortage of foil has forced it to temporarily change the wrapping of the green triangle and orange crunch, in a move that has disgruntled several fans.

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It means that a limited run of Quality Street products, including tubs, pouches and cartons will now include the triangle wrapped in an unfamiliar gold colour, while the orange crunch will be encased in a dark bronze foil.

The "rare" packs were produced at Nestlé’s Halifax factory, after stocks of green and orange foil could not cover a planned production run last week. Nestlé confirmed that the much-loved chocolates remain exactly the same inside and it is only the wrappers that have changed temporarily.

Quality Street shared the news in a post on Facebook and Twitter with a picture of the new wrappers side-by-side, telling fans: “We’ve been foiled!”. The post added: “Your favourite GreenTriangle might be wrapped in gold this Christmas. But don’t worry, it’s what’s inside that counts (and it’s just the same)!”

Fans complained the chocolates look “unrecognisable” this year (Photo: Nestlé )Fans complained the chocolates look “unrecognisable” this year (Photo: Nestlé )
Fans complained the chocolates look “unrecognisable” this year (Photo: Nestlé )

Quality Street’s Senior Brand Manager, Jemma Handley, said: “I promise this isn’t a publicity stunt. We’ve not added full size chocolate bars to the tin or removed the coconut flavour from a handful of tubs.

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“We simply didn’t have enough of the right coloured foil to cover the production run of the two sweets in question and, rather than leave them out of the selection altogether, we decided to use different colours for a very limited period.

“We are fairly sure this is the first time this has happened so anybody who finds a green triangle or an orange crunch in a different coloured foil will have something of rarity on their hands.

“I am pleased to say that it’s the same delicious hazelnut and orange sweets inside the wrappers, regardless of their colour.”

The wrapping of the green triangle and orange crunch has been temporarily changes (Photo: Nestlé )The wrapping of the green triangle and orange crunch has been temporarily changes (Photo: Nestlé )
The wrapping of the green triangle and orange crunch has been temporarily changes (Photo: Nestlé )

Production at Nestlé’s Halifax factory is now back to normal, with packs containing the substitute foil wrappers expected to land on shelves at retailers across the UK and Ireland over the next few weeks.

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Shoppers who want to be certain their triangle will be green and their crunch will be coloured orange should head to the Quality Street website where pick and mix tins can be personalised and the two sweets will retain their familiar foil colours for all orders.

‘Stop changing things!’

While some fans accepted the change, others were less happy about the news and urged Nestlé not to change the wrappers of its iconic chocolates. One user fumed: “"No no no!!! It’s a GREEN triangle!!”, while another added: “Please do not change the wrapper!!”

“I think that the green triangle not being green would actually make more sense as green implies mint. But let’s stay classic and stop changing things!” said another.

A fellow user pleaded: “Please do not change the wrapper!!”, while someone else replied: “Why! They are easier to pick out when green.... They look the same colour as the penny’s and them orange creams.”

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One person warned the chocolate maker not to ‘ruin’ Christmas by changing its branding, while another demanded it expand its Green Triangle range, commenting: “A green triangle is....and always will be a GREEN TRIANGLE. Please don’t change it. If anything.... you need to make boxes of pure green triangles, and bags of green triangles, and chocolate bars infused with green triangles, and green triangle Christmas drinks, and green triangle pyjamas. GREEN TRIANGLES......... You get my drift.”

The new coloured foil is not the only packaging change that shoppers will find inside Quality Street this Christmas as earlier this year Nestlé announced that cellulose wrappers used on its other sweets in the Quality Street assortment are being gradually replaced with a new paper wrap. The move will remove two billion pieces of packaging from the brand’s supply chain.

Ironically, before this week’s temporary colour switch, the green triangle and orange crunch had been the only sweets without a change of wrapper since they were already covered in a foil-only wrap without an additional layer of cellulose.

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