A vehicle carrying more than 400,000 KitKat bars was stolen while in transit from its production site in Italy to a delivery location in Poland, the chocolate bar’s parent company, Nestlé, has confirmed.
According to the Swiss manufacturer, about 12 tons of chocolate disappeared last week and have not been recovered. In an update on Friday, the company said, “The vehicle and its load are still nowhere to be found.”
The chocolate bars were set to be distributed across Europe, with KitKat responding on Sunday to stories that a large chunk of its chocolate supply had veered off course.
“We are working closely with local authorities and supply chain networks to investigate,” it said in an X post.
The stolen bars were from KitKat’s new Formula 1 line, which it introduced after becoming the sport’s official chocolate partner last year, The Guardian reported. Nestlé also warned the loss of the shipment could mean the chocolates end up in unofficial markets.
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The stolen chocolates were reportedly constructed like racing cars and filled with the brand’s signature wafer.
In a separate statement, a KitKat spokesperson told NBC News and several other outlets that all its products can be traced using a unique batch code assigned to every bar, meaning consumers, wholesalers and retailers would be able to identify whether their KitKat is part of a stolen shipment by scanning a code on the packaging.
If it’s found to be stolen, the person in possession will be given instructions on how to alert the company, which will then inform investigators.
KitKit did not shy away from making light of the situation.
“Whilst we appreciate the criminals’ exceptional taste, the fact remains that cargo theft is an escalating issue for businesses of all sizes,” the spokesperson said.
With more sophisticated schemes being deployed on a regular basis, we have chosen to go public with our own experience in the hope that it raises awareness of an increasingly common criminal trend,” they continued.
In a separate statement to the New York Times, the company confirmed that nobody was injured in the heist and even played on KitKat’s famous slogan.
“We’ve always encouraged people to have a break with KITKAT — but it seems thieves have taken the message too literally and made a break with more than 12 tonnes of our chocolate,” it reads.
The theft of the bars is not a one-off. According to KitKat, it “comes shortly after a joint report from the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) and the Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA) EMEA, which outlined an alarming rise in cargo theft and freight fraud — with more sophisticated methods of deception becoming increasingly common.”
The company added that there is no risk associated with the stolen goods and that its partners have been notified of the theft.
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