Chocolate Theft Sparks Use of Anti-Theft Boxes in UK Shops
Chocolate bars are increasingly being secured in plastic anti-theft boxes in some UK stores as retailers and police warn that thieves are stealing them to order.
Sainsbury's has implemented the use of "boxes on products which are regularly targeted," including £2.60 Cadbury Dairy Milk bars locked in a London branch.
The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) noted that chocolate is now being "sold on by criminals and is now being targeted more frequently by prolific offenders."
The BBC requested information from the National Police Chiefs' Council regarding the scale of the issue but received no response. However, individual police forces confirmed observing a trend of chocolate theft.
Several police forces have recently shared videos highlighting chocolate theft incidents. West Midlands Police released CCTV footage showing a man grabbing trays of chocolate from a shop in Stourbridge, while Wiltshire Police shared a video of a man dragging an entire shelving unit of chocolate out of a store.
Earlier last year, Cambridgeshire Police arrested a man found with a coat full of Cadbury's Creme Eggs.
Cambridgeshire Police told the BBC:
"Chocolate is one of a number of high-value items thieves often target, along with products such as alcohol, meat and coffee.
Retail theft has a real and lasting impact – not just on businesses, but on the staff who have to deal with related abuse and intimidation."
The British Retail Consortium's annual crime report revealed 5.5 million detected shop theft incidents last year, alongside 1,600 daily incidents of violence and abuse against retail workers. Although these figures represent a one-fifth decrease from the previous year, they remain the second highest on record.
'Swiping the Whole Shelf'
Supermarkets including Tesco, Co-Op, and Sainsbury's have increased security measures on chocolate bars by using transparent boxes that customers must ask staff to open.
The Heart of England Co-Op group, operating 38 stores across the West Midlands, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, and Northamptonshire, reported chocolate theft costs of £250,000 last year. It was the group's most stolen product in 2024 and is expected to be second only to alcohol in 2025.
Chief Executive Steve Browne described chocolate theft as a "massive issue."
"In a particular shop, one individual could cost us thousands of pounds in a week," he said. "They were coming in... then literally swiping the whole shelf."
He added that a shelf of chocolate could be worth £500 and that the group has invested £3 million in security and other theft prevention measures.
Sunita Aggarwal, who owns two convenience stores in Leicester and Sheffield, stated:
"People are just coming in, and nicking boxes and boxes of chocolate.
We know illicit trade is definitely on the up. As retailers, we know it goes on in front of us."
Aggarwal has installed over 30 CCTV cameras and uses AI technology to detect thieves, including displaying pictures of known shoplifters at the till.
Her team now only half-fills shelves to reduce losses and has stopped promoting chocolate in easily accessible end-of-aisle locations.
Fiona Avenal Malone, who runs a shop in Tenby, Wales, reports losing £200-£300 weekly due to chocolate theft.
She explained:
"We noticed that we've put out a whole line of chocolate bars, and then all of a sudden there's only one left,"
"Then you go and check the CCTV, and then you see it happening, on the screen, which is really frustrating."
'Chocolate is Primetime'
Paul Cheema, owner of Malcom's convenience stores in Coventry, said:
"Chocolate is the new buzzword for organised crime.
It was razors, cheese, coffee. Today, these people that are taking stock from convenience stores, from supermarkets, it's taken to order. So chocolate is primetime now."
Cheema explained that stolen stock is sold on, sometimes returning to other convenience stores, cafes, bars, or restaurants. He described the problem as "prolific at the moment," with shoplifters easily stealing "£200, maybe £250 of chocolate in the back of a rucksack."
To address chocolate theft, the ACS calls for increased police support and stronger sentences for offenders.
ACS Chief Executive James Lowman stated:
"Confectionery, like other products commonly stolen from local shops, is being re-sold through illicit markets that help fund wider criminal activity.
Alongside better police support and effective sentences for repeat offenders, we need action to shut down the networks re-selling stolen goods."
The BBC has contacted the National Police Chiefs' Council for a response to the ACS's comments.
