Snickers chocolate bar downsized, after manufacturing moves back to Australia

While production for the Snickers bar has moved to Australian shores, Mars Wrigley have made one unwelcome change.

While production for a much loved chocolate bar has moved back to Australia, consumers will be getting less what they paid for.

Mars Wrigley Australia, which also produces Maltesers, Twix, M&Ms and Mars Bars, have moved their Snickers production facilities back to Ballarat in regional Victoria, after the plant was closed for upgrades. During this period, they were made in China’s Jiaxing city near Shanghai.

However, while the new Australian-made treats will still cost you $2, the locally-made bars have been reduced to 44g, whereas those produced in China were 50g.

Currently, customers can still find the 50g bars in Woolworths, while Coles have transitioned to the 44g bars.

A Snickers bar which was made in a Chinese factory. Picture: Supplied.

The new Snickers bars made in Australia. Picture: Supplied.

In a statement to news.com.au, a spokesperson for Mars Wrigley confirmed that the ingredients and formulation of Snickers has remained the same, despite the change of factories.

They said the decision to reduce the size of the Snickers bars were due to “unprecedented cost pressures” across the company’s operations and were driven “by a range of external factors”.

“While we continue to absorb cost increases, changes to product weight is sometimes necessary to ensure we can continue to supply our much loved chocolate bars to Australian consumers,” they said.

While news.com.au reached out to Coles and Woolworths for comment, spokespeople for the supermarket chains declined to comment.

Mars was criticised for moving their Snickers factory to China. Picture: Supplied.

However, production has now returned to Australia. Picture: Supplied.

Mars Wrigley Australia is one of Australia’s biggest confectionery manufacturers alongside Nestle Australia, and Mondelez Australia, which produces Cadbury, Milka and Toblerone.

In May 2021, the company was criticised for moving their Snickers factories offshore, however they confirmed the move would be temporary and that local-production would resume by late 2022.

In a TikTok video shared by @thatjeremytoh in May 2021, users promised to boycott the peanut, nougat and caramel chocolate bar, due to the move.

“No more snickers for me now..,” wrote one user.

“Never buying one of those again,” shared another.

A spokesperson for Mars Wrigley said during the time Snickers production was moved to China, the company was able to invest in new technology and factory updates at their Ballarat site. “These upgrades have been completed and as of August this year we have started manufacturing Snickers back in Australia,” the spokesperson said.

“As a proud Australian manufacturer, where possible we make our products locally across our two manufacturing sites in Ballarat and Asquith. Our Ballarat factory has been producing some of the country’s most loved brands including M&Ms, Maltesers, Mars, Snickers and Pods for more than 43 years.”

Snicker’s Taiwan debacle

Recently, Mars Wrigley also copped backlash, with fans threatening to boycott the brand over a limited edition Snickers bar release with South Korean boy band, BTS. While the product, was released in South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan, customers from China’s mainland took offence at the brand for referring to Taiwan as an independent nation.

While China and the Chinese Communist Party believe Taiwan belongs to the Republic of China, the island nation is led by a self-governing and democratically-elected government.

Responding to the criticism, Mars Wrigley quickly published an apology on its Snickers China Weibo account.

“Mars Wrigley respects China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and conducts business operations in strict compliance with local Chinese laws and regulations,” the post read.

Snickers BTS Collaboration

However, Mars Wrigley copped further backlash, with people accusing the company for giving into “bullies”.

Some social media commentators also used the hashtags #Taiwanisacounty and #TaiwanIsNotChina in their posts targeting the confectionery giant.

“OMFG #Taiwan IS (sic) a country! Unless you think it’s a paint speckle on a map!” one user tweeted.

“Taiwan has its own democratically elected president and parliament, army, currency, passport. If it’s not a country, then I don’t know what it is,” tweeted another.

“I’m buying Chokito’s now,” another user tweeted, referring to the Nestle equivalent of a Snickers bar.