Thieves have made off with more than 12 tons of KitKat chocolate bars in a heist that could cause shortages ahead of Easter. The stolen shipment, containing 413,793 units of KitKat's new Formula One line, was taken while in transit from a factory in central Italy to Poland on 26 March.
Nestlé, KitKat's parent company, confirmed the theft and said it is working with local authorities and supply chain partners to investigate. The vehicle and the chocolate have not been located, but no one was hurt during the robbery.
In a statement, Nestlé riffed on the brand's slogan: 'We've always encouraged people to have a break with KitKat, but it seems thieves have taken the message too literally and made a break with more than 12 tons of our chocolate.' The company warned that the stolen bars could appear on unofficial markets, but said law enforcement can trace them through batch codes.
The stolen bars were from KitKat's new F1 range, which features chocolate moulded after race cars. Nestlé described cargo theft as 'an escalating issue for businesses of all sizes' and said it went public to raise awareness of the trend.
