Christmas chocolate: most missed treats revealed as Bounty ditched from Celebrations tubs - including Smarties

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The nation was left in a state of shock yesterday when it was announced that Bounties would be banished from some of their Celebration tubs this Christmas. The decision came after a study by Mars Wrigley, the company that makes the festive staples, determined that 39% of consumers wanted the chocolate-covered coconut gone for good.

The confectionery brand has teamed up with Tesco to trial ‘No Bounty tubs’ in the lead-up to the festive season. From November 8, customers in select stores around the UK will be able to exchange Celebration tubs bought in-store with a new No Bounty Celebrations tub, in a business trial that will put this chocolate debate to the test.

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However, Betway has gone on to look back at all the sweet treats that have been removed from festive confectionery tubs over the years and discovered which sweet is the most missed by the UK public. Betway has used search volume data to conclude its findings and found Toblerone was top of the list of most missed festive chocolates - it enjoyed a very short stint as part of the Heroes tub between 2013-2015.

Also on the list are Smarties, which were once part of the Quality Street offering and Turkish Delight which was in the Roses tubs. Here’s the top 10 most missed chocolates from festive tubs.

A box of Cadbury’s Heroes chocolatesA box of Cadbury’s Heroes chocolates
A box of Cadbury’s Heroes chocolates

The most missed chocolates from festive tubs

1. Toblerone

It may have been seven whole Christmases since Toblerone last appeared in Cadbury’s chocolate tub, but with 67,000 monthly searches for the mountain-shaped chocolate, it seems many would like to see it return

2. Bournville 

Cadbury’s famous dark chocolate bar was a staple feature of the Roses tub before being moved over to the Heroes tub in 2008. However, Bournville only lasted a short time as part of the Heroes lineup and was removed altogether in 2013, and now does not feature in any of the popular festive confectionary tubs. It now receives 19,000 searches from Bournville-lovers each month.

3. Fuse

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The fuse was removed from the Heroes tub in the mid-2000s, but it appears that chocolate fans have still not gotten over it with the treat receiving 16,000 searches. In fact, the Fuse bar, which contained peanuts, raisins and cereal pieces, was discounted altogether in the UK in 2006 but remains popular in India.

4. Smarties 

Plenty of people may not remember that Smarties were once Quality Street royalty. A small carton of the different-coloured shelled chocolates appeared in the festive confectionary tub for one year only in 2004.

With 6,500 searches per month, people would clearly like to see Smarties make a comeback to Quality Street again - they would certainly help to fill up the kids, leaving more pickings for the grown-ups, at least.

5. Turkish Delight

Another treat that people may have forgotten was once part of our festive confectionery tubs is Turkish Delight, which featured in the Roses tub for some time. Like Bounty, the Turkish Delight was a real love-it-or-hate-it sweet, and while 5,400 people a month clearly miss it, there’s no doubt plenty are in no rush for it to return.

6. Time Out

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Yet another sorely missed Heroes option is the classic Time Out bar, which contained layers of wafer and rippled chocolate dipped in smooth Cadbury’s chocolate. The treat was given its own ‘time out of the Heroes tub way back in 2007 and sparked uproar in 2016 when it was suggested that Cadbury’s may discontinue the chocolate bar for good. Time now gets searched by chocolate lovers 4,600 times a month.

7. Topic

Celebrations have barely made any changes to its lineup of chocolates over the years, making the recent removal of Bounty all the more shocking. The Topic bar was the first Celebrations treat to get the chop way back in 2006, and it looks like 4,600 people a month would welcome the comeback of the nutty treat.

8. Picnic

There’s no shortage of flavours in Cadbury’s Picnic, with wafer, caramel, peanuts and dried fruit all crammed together in one chocolate bar. Sadly, the Picnic was simply too divisive to keep its place in the Heroes tub and was removed way back in 2007, the same year as the Time Out and the Topic - just how did chocolate fans survive? The Picnic bar is clearly missed as people are searching for it 4,500 times a month.

9. Dream

Fans of white chocolate were not happy when Cadbury’s made the controversial decision of removing Dream from the Heroes tub way back in 2008. The Dream bar was eventually discontinued altogether due to a lack of popularity but it still receives 4000 searches by Dream-lovers every month.

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However, the treat did make a brief comeback to UK shelves in 2020, appearing as a limited edition item in B&M Bargains.

10. Galaxy Truffle

Another sorely missed Celebrations chocolate is the Galaxy Truffle, the removal of which ruined more than a few people’s Christmases back in 2011. Fans of the Galaxy Truffle are truly devoted to the treat, with one even starting an official petition to reintroduce it to the Celebrations tub back in 2018. Galaxy lovers are searching for the much-missed festive chocolate around 2000 times a month.

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