Cadbury Flakes are proving to be too flaky for the classic ice cream 99s. A shift in production to Egypt has left vendors complaining the choccy sticks are "too crumbly" to be used in the summertime favourite.
According to The Express, the chocolate-making giant's parent company Mondelēz International claims the issues have now been addressed. However, it warned older stock might still be in circulation.
John Taylor, owner of C&M Creamery Ices, claims he is being left "embarrassed" by the quality of the flakes he is having to sell. He told the BBC: "You can't give someone a 99 with a broken Flake. It's embarrassing for an ice cream man."
Lawrence Glauser, owner of Lorenzo's Ices in East Yorkshire, confirmed the issue and says he's having to adapt the classic 99 formula in order to make up for the subpar chocolate. He said a "quarter of a box" is often "unusable", and now serves "trays of ice cream and sprinkle bits of Flake on top.
"I shouldn't have to do that. I'm fed up of the wastage." Mr Glauser has now started looking across the Channel for a bar that is up to the job, having at times turning to a German alternative marketed as "milk chocolate flaked sticks".
"Customers don't seem to mind, the German ones are a lot denser and don't seem to fall apart as easily," he said. Mr Taylor added that when the flakes arrived, it was "as though they have been bounced off a cliff."
A spokesperson for Mondelēz International said it cared about its customers and took issues with quality "very seriously". They said: "Cadbury Flake 99 is a naturally delicate and crumbly product, and we have processes in place within our supply chain to avoid any breakage as much as possible.
"We are aware that recently some customers have received product which does not meet our usual high standards. This has been addressed following recent improvements to our production processes although some prior stock may remain in circulation.
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The treat was originally created thanks to Cadbury which developed the Flake bar in 1920 after an employee saw excess chocolate pouring off the line and forming ripples as it set. The first 99 Flake Cadbury produced was a chocolate bar in ice cream between two wafer biscuits.
Then in 1930 Cadbury started producing a smaller Flake bar specifically for sticking into soft ice cream - with the bars sold as 99 Flakes in boxes, unwrapped.
Cadbury says that, while the origin may be unclear, the name was created to appeal to Italian vendors. A spokesperson explains: “An ice cream served in a cone with a Flake 99 is the UK's favourite ice cream. In the days of the monarchy in Italy the King had an elite guard consisting of 99 soldiers.
“Subsequently anything really special or first class was known as ’99’. When Cadbury launched its small Flake for ice creams in 1930, the UK ice cream industry was dominated by ex-pat Italians. So, to appeal to Italians we called our superb Flake a ’99’.”
