Chocolate box favourites ditched

Cadbury Heroes was launched in September 1999

Cadbury is defending its decision to remove some of its most popular chocolates from boxes of Heroes.

White chocolate Dreams and Crunchies have been dropped from the tins, to be replaced by Bournvilles and Fudge.

But some customers are complaining, accusing the company of cutting costs by taking out more expensive varieties.

Cadbury says it regularly changes the Heroes selection, and the most recent alterations were decided last year, before the credit crunch happened.

Last year the chocolate company removed Time Outs and Picnics from the tubs, which offer miniature versions of Cadbury's most popular products.

The company said it was responding to changing tastes away from milk chocolate in favour of dark products.

Alex Harrison, a Cadbury spokeswoman, said white chocolate had become a "specialist" choice of only 2% of consumers.

The company's research found 8% of people liked dark chocolate while 90% preferred milk chocolate.

She said: "So quite a lot of it is to do with cost, as well, but ultimately going for the mass appeal is as important."

"Last year we took out Picnic and Time Out because those tended to be the ones which were left at the end."

Earlier this week Cadbury reported that its UK division was "growing well" despite the credit crunch.

Demand for its relaunched Wispa chocolate bar helped lift quarterly sales by 11% in the UK.

The company sold 1.2 million bars in one week after the product's relaunch in September.

Cadbury brought it back after a social networking campaign calling for its return.