More than 12 tons of KitKat bars from the brand's new Formula One range were stolen while in transit to distributors in Italy, Nestlé has confirmed. The heist occurred on 26 March as the truck was travelling from a factory in central Italy to Poland.
The stolen cargo consisted of 413,793 bars, which could cause shortages ahead of Easter. Nestlé said it is working with local authorities and supply chain partners to investigate the theft, adding that no one was hurt during the incident.
“We’ve always encouraged people to have a break with KitKat,” a company statement read. “But it seems thieves have taken the message too literally and made a break with more than 12 tons of our chocolate.” The statement noted that cargo theft is a growing issue, with more sophisticated schemes being deployed regularly.
The bars were from a special Formula One line, produced after KitKat became the official chocolate bar of F1 last year. The candy is moulded in the shape of race cars but features the classic chocolate-covered wafers.
Nestlé warned that the stolen bars could surface on unofficial markets. However, law enforcement can trace them using batch codes assigned to individual bars, allowing identification if they resurface.
