Quality Street chocolates could run out before Christmas, Nestlé warns

Nestlé has hinted at fears it could run out of Quality Street chocolates before Christmas after experiencing supply chain issues.

Nestlé has indicated to Quality Street fans that there could be a shortage of chocolate treats over Christmas after the chocolatier admitted it was experiencing an issue with its supply chain.

Millions of the tubs and boxes of Quality Street chocolates are sold each year - as Christmas chocolates are often considered to be some of the best Christmas food, up there with the turkey and roast potatoes.

The warning follows the news that Nestlé has just launched a brand new Quality Street sweet to mark the confectionary mix's 85th birthday.

This year, many households could struggle to secure themselves a tub of treats if the chronic shortage of HGV drivers continues or worsens.

Mark Schneider, the chief executive of Nestlé, told the BBC that the company is working hard to make sure products made it onto shelves this winter, but he wouldn't commit to guaranteeing that the chocolate would be still on shelves this Christmas.

"Like other businesses, we are seeing some labour shortages and some transportation issues but it's our UK team's top priority to work constructively with retailers to supply them," he said.

When asked whether he could guarantee Quality Street would be in the shops this Christmas he replied, "We are working hard."

A number of sectors have had problems with their supply chains including McDonald's with customers panicking over a shortage of milkshakes, Nandos who ran out of chicken had to temporarily close 50 stores earlier this year, and KFC which suffered its second chicken shortage of the year before supplies were resumed.

Factors including global bottlenecks with shipping have also played a part in the Nestlé Quality Street shortage.

Nestlé, which also makes the likes of Aero and KitKat, is the world's largest producer of dairy products - and works with hundreds of thousands of farmers around the world with millions of cows.

Ahead of a major climate summit in Glasgow next month, chief executive Mark Schneider was in the UK to launch a range of non-dairy, plant-based alternatives to its milk and chocolate in an attempt to further reduce the company's greenhouse gas emissions.

The Firm later tweeted reassurance to its customers, 'We just wanted to reassure everyone, we make up to 12 million QUALITY STREET favourites a day, there will be plenty to go around this Christmas!'

And added, 'Like all businesses we are managing a number of challenges at the moment, but we are working hard to mitigate them, and we're not seeing a material impact on supply.'

And it poked fun at the situation by suggesting that the chocolates that get left in the tin could be a solution to the shortage, 'There's enough Green Triangles for everyone!' followed by a crying with laughter emoji.

And B&M got in on the social media panic, by tweeting its response. 'Phew, had us worried x'

Meanwhile, customers can pick up a personalised tin filled with their favourite flavours from selected John Lewis stores.

'Our QUALITY STREET stands will be launching in participating John Lewis stores in the coming weeks! Find your closest store below!'