Minties go soft after production exported

BY MATT RILKOFF

Cadbury has gone and messed with another Kiwi classic.

The recipe for Minties has been changed to what many consumers say is a softer, less minty version.

Not only that, production of the iconic lolly was moved to Thailand in August along with other old-man favourites: Mint Imperials and Curiously Strong Mints.

Only one packet of New Zealand-made Minties could be found in New Plymouth yesterday with shelves dominated by the new Thai versions.

New Plymouth woman Tania Gecse noticed the change in her Minties last month and at first thought she had just bought an old batch. But another packet of the same type made her realise Cadbury, the company that makes Pascall Minties, had changed the recipe of the lolly she had loved for 30 years.

"They are horrible compared with the old ones. You eat Minties for a reason – the chewiness and the mint taste. These are 110 per cent different. They are not as chewy and they are not as minty," she said.

Minties have a long and proud history in New Zealand with their "It's moments like these" marketing campaign a national favourite.

Come summer time they are often used on long car journeys to quieten tetchy children and can survive in a glovebox for many months.

Daniel Ellis, spokesman for Cadbury Australia and New Zealand, said the company had received a number of complaints over the years about how hard Minties were to bite.

In response Minties had been made softer to bite so they were easier to chew.

However he said the recipe remained fundamentally unchanged.

The key is the moisture content, making the new Mintie softer to bite into.

"Since we began selling the softer Minties from August this year we've had a number of people contact us to thank us for making them easier to eat," Mr Ellis said.

Several of those who tasted both the old and new versions agreed, but the overwhelming response to the new Minties were they were actually a less minty and a less satisfying chew.

Mr Ellis said the move to off-shore Minties manufacture was part of a move towards specialist manufacturing centres of excellence.

Other iconic lollies like Pineapple Lumps and Jaffas will continue to be made in New Zealand, he said. The change to Minties came just weeks after Cadbury was forced to backtrack on a disastrous attempt to add palm oil to its famous dairy milk chocolate recipe.

Chocolate lovers around the country overwhelmingly rejected the change forcing Cadbury to switch back to its original recipe.

This week it starts a nationwide attempt to win customers back by giving away thousands of original recipe bars.

In September last year there was a similar uproar when the iconic Snifter lolly was axed by the company at the same time as Tangy Fruits and Sparkles got the boot.

In April its Eskimo lolly came under the glare of the national spotlight when Canadian tourist Seeka Lee Veevee Parsons, 21, an Inuit of the Nunavut Territory in Canada, said the name of the confections was an insult to her people.

In July Cadbury was voted New Zealand's most trusted brand for the sixth year in a row.

- © Fairfax NZ News