More Than 12 Tons of KitKats Have Mysteriously Vanished in Europe
Will your Easter basket be affected?
Bloomberg/Getty
It may have been the perfect crime … for chocoholics. Twelve tonnes — the equivalent of 13.23 U.S. (short) tons — of Nestle's crunchy KitKat bars were swiped last week in a European heist.
"A truck transporting 413,793 units of [KitKat’s] new chocolate range has been stolen during transit in Europe,” the brand confirmed Saturday, March 28, in a statement sent to the global news service AFP.
The incident took place on Thursday, March 26.
What do we know about the KitKat heist?
While the exact location of the heist was not disclosed, it seems the stolen truck carrying the 12-tonne candy bar shipment had departed from a production location in central Italy and was headed to Poland. The truck was scheduled to make stops at distribution locations en route to its final destination but … vanished.
"The vehicle and its contents remain unaccounted for,” KitKat told AFP.
And, these weren’t just any old KitKat bars. These were special-edition chocolates made in partnership with Formula 1. The limited-edition KitKats are shaped like little F1 cars.
What are the chances that the missing KitKats will be found?
"Investigations are ongoing in close collaboration with local authorities and supply chain partners,” KitKat said.
It’s also possible, the brand notes, that the stolen candy bars might turn up on “unofficial sales channels” around Europe. In that case, because bars have scannable unique batch codes on them, some candy could be traced back to the missing shipment.
"If a match is found, the scanner will be given clear instructions on how to alert KitKat who will then share the evidence appropriately,” the brand told AFP.
A Nestlé spokesperson told The Athletic that no one was hurt during the heist.
Will the KitKat heist affect your Easter basket?
That depends where you live. KitKat cautioned that the missing shipment “may lead to a shortage” of the candy bars in stores, and that "consumers, unfortunately, may struggle to find their favorite chocolates ahead of Easter.” But the shortages are probably limited to Europe, since that’s where the truck was scheduled to make its drops. So, KitKat fans with baskets to fill in the United States are probably in the clear.
And, if you need any more reassurance, the brand is taking a relatively lighthearted approach to the situation.
"We've always encouraged people to have a break with KitKat," a spokesperson for the brand told the press. "But it seems thieves have taken the message too literally and made a break with more than 12 tonnes of our chocolate.”
Way to take the opportunity to get that catchphrase out there, KitKat press rep.
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