What's the summer without ice cream, and what's an ice cream without a flake? We may soon find out.
For lovers of the classic 99 cone, the flakiness of the chocolate treat – which typically tops the whipped ice cream cone – is an important part of the experience, with shards falling into the ice cream and breaking away in each nibble.
Once the embodiment of a summer's day, businesses are reporting that the classic Cadbury confection is now too crumbly for the ice cream after a manufacturing change.
The Guardian reports that ice cream vendors around the UK have aired their complaints amid one of the country's first sunny spells of the summer, saying that the quality of the flake has dropped since production moved to Egypt.
Speaking to the BBC, one ice cream vendor said that the flakes arrive as a box of shards. "You can't give someone a 99 with a broken flake," John Taylor, the owner of C&M Creamery Ices, said. "It’s embarrassing for an ice-cream man."
The flakes that top ice creams are mini version of the full size chocolate treat, and have been made in Egypt since 2020.
Another ice cream vendor, Katy Alston, who is also president of the Ice Cream Alliance, told the publication that while a wholesale box of flake toppers includes roughly 144, she has often had to throw away half because they're broken apart.
The US multinational Mondelēz, which has owned Cadbury since 2010, insisted that the recipe has not changed and that it took quality issues "very seriously", it said in a statement to the publication.
"Cadbury flake 99 is a naturally delicate and crumbly product. We are aware that recently some customers have received a product which does not meet our usual high standards.
"This has been addressed following recent improvements to our production processes, although some prior stock may remain in circulation. We are in the process of liaising with our customers (wholesalers) to support those potentially impacted."
