Cadbury's recently revived chocolate coins, which have returned to shelves after nine years, are being outperformed by cheaper supermarket own-brand versions in a taste test conducted for the Daily Mail. Food historian and chocolate expert Dr Annie Gray, a panelist on BBC Radio 4's Kitchen Cabinet, sampled seven bags of chocolate coins, awarding Cadbury Dairy Milk Coins a middling three out of five. At 14p per coin, they are twice the price of some rivals.
Dr Gray gave top prize to Aldi's Dairyfine Chocolate Coins, priced at 7p per coin. Morrisons and Marks & Spencer tied for second place, both at 12p per coin. Sainsbury's Milk Chocolate Coins, the cheapest tested at 6p each, came last with one out of five. Dr Gray deducted points from all brands due to their plastic net packaging, which is difficult to recycle, stating, 'Really, people, it's 2023, I think we can do better.'
Chocolate coins are believed to date back to 1910, but food historian Alex Hutchinson noted they likely originated as a Jewish tradition. The earliest mass-produced chocolate coins were made by a New York company called Loft in the 1920s for Hanukkah, known as 'Geld'. Dr Gray praised the visuals of Dairy Milk and M&S coins, describing them as 'crisply embossed and a nice shade of gold', while Sainsbury's was deemed 'terrible'.
Julie Ashfield from Aldi said the supermarket was 'committed to providing high quality products at great value, and we're pleased to see this recognised by the tasting panel'. The taste test comes amid rising chocolate prices, with research by Which? finding increases of up to 62% on some products, such as Green & Black's Organic Classic Miniature Chocolate Bar Collection at Asda.
