Bars of Dairy Milk and Lindt have been locked in plastic security boxes at supermarkets in the UK after chocolate has become a “high-value target” in thefts.
Retailers faced 5.5m incidents of shoplifting last year, costing them more than £400m, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said. This has led to more items being protected by the clear plastic boxes, fitted with electronic alarms.
“Many of these incidents are linked to organised crime, where thieves steal ‘high-value’ goods to order,” a spokesperson told The Independent.
“Chocolate is now a target, deemed as ‘high value’ and so retailers have installed anti-theft devices to prevent them from being stolen.”
Official figures published in July showed the number of shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales had climbed to a record high.
Some 530,643 offences were logged in 2024-2025, up 20 per cent from 444,022 in 2023-2024, and the highest total since current police records began in 2002-2003, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
At the Sainsbury’s Local on City Road in central London, 120g bars of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk and Oreo, retailing at £1.50 - reduced from £2.40 – were among the items secured in plastic boxes when The Independent visited the shop on Tuesday.
Also protected in boxes were higher-end brands, including £3 bars of Tony’s Chocolonely, £3.85 bars of Green and Black’s, and Lindt Excellence bars, also being sold for £3.85.
Some of the chocolate bars were also held behind sliding plastic barriers covering the shelves, with a sign reading: “Restricted: For stock enquiries, please ask a member of staff.”
About the move to protect its stock, a Sainsbury’s spokesperson told The Independent: "We have a range of security measures in our stores and, where theft levels are higher, some may take additional steps to help reduce this.
“In some instances this will involve the introduction of boxes on products which are regularly targeted, while in others we will use shelf-edge protection instead."
Lucy Whing, crime policy lead at the BRC, said retailers have invested over £5bn in the last five years to tackle theft and crime.
“This includes measures to tackle low-level theft of items such as chocolate, including plastic sliders on shelves, security tags, and restricted fill,” she added. “Ultimately such theft is not a victimless crime, pushing up the price for honest shoppers.”
Chris Noice from the Association of Convenience Stores said chocolate and sweets have been among the top three items targeted by shoplifters for a long time, though this was previously driven by “opportunists taking the occasional chocolate bar as opposed to anything more organised”.
This has changed, however. He explained: “More recently, particularly larger chocolate bars are being targeted by prolific offenders to then sell on in the community and to other businesses.”
Mr Noice said his organisation has not seen any evidence that this trade is deterring shops from stocking confectionery, but the equipment now required to protect stock has become an added expense for the sector.
He added: “Retailers have to make decisions in their businesses about striking a balance between a store that is welcoming for customers and accessible, and a store that is secure from theft.
“No retailer wants to make it more difficult for customers to buy things, but the levels of theft have meant that they have no choice but to do more to protect their stock. What we do know is that when we ask consumers about these measures, twice as many see them as reassuring as those who are frustrated by them.”
