Cherry Ripe disappears from Cadbury Roses box

Cadbury Roses have had a makeover. Photo/Brett Phibbs

We all know the dreaded feeling of digging into a box of chocolates to find nothing but unwanted Cherry Ripes and empty wrappers.

But Cadbury may well have solved our woes once and for all by axing the loathed bar from its Roses boxed chocolates just in time for Christmas.

The Cherry Ripe, called Cherry Heaven in Roses boxes, has been replaced with Dark Mocha and Salted Caramel.

Dark Mocha was described on Roses Boxes as a "rich espresso flavoured fudge topped with Old Gold dark chocolate".

Cadbury owner Mondelez International said the change was made in May.

"We regularly review the flavours available in a box of Roses to ensure we reflect the changing taste preferences of our consumers," said James Kane, country head of Mondelez New Zealand.

"When we add new pieces we need to make way by removing something, and with Cherry Ripe still available in the full size bar and large box of Cadbury Favourites, we're confident fans will still be able to enjoy the signature cherry and coconut hit.

"We promoted the new Dark Mocha and Salted Caramel pieces back in May and these are flavours that we know reflect the current taste preferences of consumers."

Cherry Ripe caused a stir last year when a woman complained on social media of a disproportionate number of the Australian chocolates in her son's Favourites Easter Egg.

Shelley Down, from Paraparaumu, posted an image of the offending package and questioned the company on their chocolate selection process.

"Was super excited to watch my son open his Favourites Easter Egg but had a bit of a WTF moment when we realised there were 7 Cherry Ripes and 1 Dairy Milk [sic]," she said.

Hiiii Cadbury Was super excited to watch my son open his Favourites Easter Egg but had a bit of a WTF moment when we...

Posted by Shelley Down on Saturday, 26 March 2016

"I know Cherry Ripes get a bit of a tough time and you still need to force them upon us but the ratio seems a bit drastic. Did you have a newbie working on the distribution line that day because surely this ain't right?!"

The post attracted over 3700 reactions and 412 comments - including from a number of other people with the same issue, which one person referred to as the "curse of the Cherry Ripe".

In response to her post on their Facebook page, Cadbury said the high number of Cherry Ripes in the Favourites Easter Egg was unintentional.

"Thanks for your feedback. Whilst the process of the pieces going into the packet is randomised, it is not intentional that you would get that much of one particular product."

A spokeswoman for Cadbury told the Herald: "While variation in the numbers of Cadbury mini bars in each pack is possible due to the random selection process, it is very unusual to have a majority of one bar.

"We encourage any customers who have a concern to contact us directly and we will investigate the matter further."