By Jesse Peach
A ‘Minties Moment’ may never be the same again. Cadbury is changing the recipe of the lolly and switching production to Thailand.
The confectionery company acknowledges the lollies are now “a softer chew” and a different taste.
Last time the Cadbury changed its chocolate recipe it was forced to change back.
New Plymouth woman Tania Garcher used to love Minties, she says she chewed them for stress relief. But after Cadbury changed the way her favourite lollies were made, her stress levels have raised considerably.
“All I care about is the taste. If they tasted fine - that's great, but they don't - they taste totally different to me,” she says.
The company has taken production of the classic Kiwi lolly offshore to Thailand where it is cheaper to produce.
Matthew Oldham, of Cadbury New Zealand, admits the taste is slightly different.
“We have certainly tried to replicate the minty flavour and minty texture as much as we were possibly able to. Perhaps we are able to work even more on that.”
Cadbury says one of the positives is the new Minties should be softer, and easier on the teeth.
“People always have complained about Minties being too hard, or people with broken teeth or fillings pulled out,” says Mr Oldham.
“Now we've had feedback from people saying “thank you for changing it”.
Fans of the Mintie, like Cyril Dummer, say the lolly is an icon and their production shouldn't move offshore.
Cadbury says it is great Kiwis care so much about their Minties, but concede that the sweet is not actually a real Kiwi lolly. Minties were invented in Australia in the 1920s and were not produced in New Zealand until the 1950s.
3 News