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03rd Nov 2022

Bounty bars to disappear from Celebrations tubs this Christmas, Ireland thankfully unaffected

Jack Peat

Turns out more than a third of people never touch the sweet. 

Bounty bars are set to be banished from Celebrations tubs this Christmas in a move that is likely to divide opinion.

The mini chocolate bar will be removed from certain tubs in a trial after research found that 39% of consumers never go near the coconut-flavoured treats.

Customers at select Tesco Christmas Market sites will be able to exchange tubs bought in-store that day for a new “No Bounty” alternative until 18 December.

As of now, it appears that the trial is a UK exclusive, so hopefully Irish Bounty lovers won’t be devastated come December.

In a statement issued on Thursday morning, Mars confirmed that the trial is “a UK-only campaign, with no plans to bring it to Ireland at present”.

The limited-edition tubs will include additional Mars, Snickers, Milky Way, Galaxy and Maltesers sweets to make up for the missing Bounty bars.

Mars Wrigley said its own research of 2,000 UK residents aged between 18 and 65 suggested that 18% would feel irritated to find only Bounty bars were left in the tub, while 58% believed it would lead to a family argument.

One in four consumers want the bars gone for good, and just over a fifth (22%) say they like Bounty the least of all the tub’s options.

Some 28% were of the opinion that coconut had no place in a chocolate bar at all.

The move to remove the chocolate bar follows a Bounty Return Scheme last year, in which Bounty haters were permitted to return their unwanted chocolates and swap them for Maltesers after the Christmas period.

Celebrations senior brand manager Emily Owen said: “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. And to those loyal – and secret – Bounty lovers out there, there’s still a chance they’ll make a return after the trial.”

The trial is rolling out across 40 Tesco Christmas Market locations, but it has divided opinions. Here’s a pick of what people have had to say:

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