NEWS that Quality Street’s coffee cremes are back delighted chocoholics when it was announced on Thursday.
But there’s still one change to the much-loved sweets that is dividing opinion – and that’s the wrappers.
“Just opened the tin of Quality Street forgetting about the crappy new wrappers and that’s my Christmas ruined,” one person sighed in a post on Reddit.
However, others insisted the new eco-friendly paper wrappers – which were introduced in October 2022 after 86 years of using foil ones – were much better than the originals.
“I appreciate your disappointment; however, the new wrappers have (thus far) prevented any of the strawberry creme and orange creme chocolates from leaking/sticking on the wrappers,” someone replied.
“At first I was not a fan, but I think I am now won over,” another agreed.
“Still not a fan of the ‘tiny’ 650g tins though!”
“With the shiny gone, I thought we would struggle to enjoy them,” a third said.
“A day in, we are already pretty used to it/forgotten what the old wrappers for each choc was.
“Power through – you’ll get there!”
“I had not considered the leakage…. I mean I’ll probably struggle through the tin even so,” the original poster replied.
“But yes they’re much smaller now.”
And others admitted they used to use the colourful foil wrappers for other purposes too.
“I used to put the coloured wrappers over my glasses and make ‘Christmas vision’ – think rose tinted spectacles…” one wrote.
“It made the world more vibrant and colourful!
“Now what am I supposed to do?”
“Yet another person’s Christmas ruined….” the poster replied.
“The best bit about Quality Street was looking through the coloured cellophane to pretend the world was yellow,” another agreed.
The first pick and mix station opened on Wednesday (September 25) at John Lewis's flagship store on Oxford Street.
Other participating stores will begin rolling out the sections throughout October.
However, if you don’t live near a John Lewis, you can still get your hands on Quality Street’s coffee creme chocolates.
They will also be available in a limited-edition cracker at Waitrose and John Lewis stores for £5.50.
Shoppers can also buy a bag of coffee creme chocolates to add to their current Quality Street tins for £4.50.
“I used to use the wrappers for arts and crafts as a kid and I also used to look at the the tree lights through the wrappers!” a third wrote.
“I even loved the smell of them. God I miss being a kid!”
“They used to be like opening a tin of jewels, twinkling and gleaming in the Christmas lights,” someone else said.
“It was one of those little things that made Christmas magical.
“Now they just look matte, flat and dull. Utterly s**t, Christmas ruined indeed.”
Quality Street announced this week that the coffee creme will be available once again this Christmas.
But fans won’t find the iconic flavour in the usual Quality Street tubs.
Instead, the coffee-flavour fondant wrapped in dark chocolate will join the 11 other Quality Street sweets at pick and mix stations across selected John Lewis stores in the UK.
WE all love a bit of chocolate from now and then, but you don't have to break the bank buying your favourite bar.
Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how to cut costs…
Go own brand – if you’re not too fussed on flavour and just want to supplant your chocolate cravings, you’ll save by going for supermarket’s own brand bars.
Shop around – if you’ve spotted your favourite variety at the supermarket, make sure you check if it’s cheaper elsewhere.
Websites like Trolley.co.uk let you compare prices on products across all the major chains to see if you’re getting the best deal.
Look out for yellow stickers – supermarket staff put yellow, and sometimes orange and red, stickers on to products to show they’ve been reduced.
They usually do this if the product is coming to the end of its best before date or the packaging is slightly damaged.
Buy bigger bars – most of the time, but not always, chocolate is cheaper per 100g the larger the bar.
So if you’ve got the appetite, and you were going to buy a hefty amount of chocolate anyway, you might as well go bigger.
