They are a familiar feature of festive celebrations, often prompting a playful family race to secure everyone’s favourite chocolate.
Yet the Quality Street sweets that have long been associated with Christmas may no longer seem quite so deserving of their name.
Many fans believe the chocolates do not taste as good as they once did, and a comparison of their ingredients over the decades may help explain the growing dissatisfaction.
The recipe thought to have been used when Quality Street launched in 1936 featured traditional ingredients including sugar, butter, treacle, eggs and natural fruit flavourings.
By 2001, milk chocolate appeared first on the ingredients list, while the assortment also contained real strawberry, apricot and coconut ingredients. None of those fruits appear in the 2026 versions, even though the range still includes sweets described as strawberry and coconut flavoured.
Milk chocolate has also slipped down the list, replaced at the top by sugar.
The traditional tin, now replaced by a box, has changed considerably—especially over the past few decades
Palm oil has been added during the past 20 years, a move that has attracted criticism because of its high saturated-fat content and association with ultra-processed foods.
Some industry specialists argue that palm oil has no place in chocolate and cannot match the qualities of cocoa butter.
Opponents of its use say chocolate made with palm oil has an inferior flavour compared with products made using better-quality cocoa butter.
Because palm oil melts at a considerably higher temperature than cocoa butter, it can also produce a waxy or crumbly texture that some consumers find unappealing.
British chocolatier Louis Barnett called the ingredient a “cheap bulk filler”, while artisan producer Chococo stated: “There is no place for palm oil in chocolate – end of.”
Nestlé abandoned plans this week for new “eco-friendly” paper tubs, first tested in October 2024
A Quality Street advertisement dating from 1936, the year the brand was launched
The Chartered Trading Standards Institute told the Daily Mail that it would not normally take action over the brand’s name, provided Quality Street had not claimed that it used “quality products”.
The confectionery is not the only part of the brand to have changed dramatically. The famous metal tin has given way to a plastic tub.
Nestlé also confirmed this week that it had abandoned the new “eco-friendly” paper packaging, which was initially trialled in October 2024.
The change marked a significant departure from the brand’s original image, which was built around making working families feel as though they were receiving a special gift when presented with a tin of chocolates.
The tubs have also become a clear example of so-called shrinkflation.
In 2024, Quality Street was sold in 600g tubs. A year later, the standard size had fallen to 550g.
Manufacturers have attributed the smaller quantity to higher production and ingredient costs.
Adam Mawson said: “Clearly their taste testers don’t have tastebuds. They’re rotten. They’re full of palm oil.”
A 2001 ingredients list places milk chocolate first and includes real strawberry, apricot and coconut ingredients
A tub of Quality Street from the 1980s, before the brand underwent many of its later changes
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Customers have also used social media to condemn the changes, with some saying there is now “nothing quality anymore” about the brand.
Adam Mawson wrote: “Clearly their taste testers don’t have tastebuds. They’re rotten. They’re full of palm oil.”
“They need to bring back the old recipe. People might actually buy them, and they would taste like chocolate again.
“I’m surprised they can still call them chocolates. They should be described as chocolate-flavoured because there is barely any cocoa in them now.”
Although today’s Quality Street range is largely sugar-based and uses vegetable fats such as palm and shea, the products can still legally be marketed as “assorted milk and dark chocolates and toffees”.
Another social media user summed up their frustration by writing: “There’s nothing quality left, from the packaging to the chocolate.”
Quality Street sweets photographed in 2017, before the brand began using paper wrappers
A second critic added: “It’s ridiculous because Quality Street was such a popular brand. They made larger versions of the chocolates and were doing well.
“They are now only a shadow of what they used to be.”
Nestlé said: “Like many confectionery products, Quality Street contains small amounts of plant-based fats, which are clearly identified in the ingredients listed on the packaging.”