The company announced the launch of three chocolate bars based on Roald Dahl’s classic book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in the UK late last week.
It’s the first time Nestlé has launched chocolate versions of the Wonka brand after selling several sugar confectionery versions in the US.
The UK’s National Obesity Forum told the Daily Mail newspaper that the calorie count for the chocolate new bars was “unbelievable” and claimed the product was clearly marketed towards kids.
‘Not marketed to children,’ says Nestlé
James Maxton, corporate communications at Nestlé told ConfectioneryNews: “The new Wonka Bars have been introduced as an indulgent treat clearly marked for sharing. They are not marketed to children.”
“The blocks are competitive with the rest of the market in regards to calories and come with the additional re-seal mechanism which allows consumers to portion the products.”
The calorie count for Nestlé’s three Wonka branded bars is 554kcal for 100g of Millionaires Shortbread, 524kcal for Chocolate Nice Cream (100g) and 555kcal for Crème Brulee (100g).
Comparison to other popular bars
The calorie count is fairly consistent with other similarly-sized chocolates on the market.
For example, Mars’ Galaxy milk chocolate 114g block bar has 544kcal per 100g, Cadbury’s Dairy Milk 200g blocks have 530kcal per 100g, while 100g of Lindt Excellence Milk chocolate contains 567kcal.
Nestlé said it products were also meant to be shared.
It will sell two singles varieties, Millionaire’s Shortbread in 36g and Chocolate Nice Cream 37g bars from 16 September at an RRP of 60p ($0.93)
The 100g chocolate blocks, which come in all three flavors, will hit stores from 7 October at RRP £1.29 ($1.93).
The bars contain no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. Nestlé said the bars used 100% sustainably sourced cocoa, but made no mention of a certification label.
Nestlé UK, along with Mars and Mondelez is a signatory to the UK government’s Responsibility Deal, which aims to cut five billion calories from the population’s daily diet.