This year scanning the shelves for the chocolate chicks has proven just as fraught as hunting for the actual endangered birds.
“I’ve been keeping an eye out in New World for them for weeks now, but finally realised that they aren’t available. I’ve checked New World and Woolworths websites and also the Whittaker’s website.”
Whittaker’s confirmed to the Herald that the chocolate treat was an endangered species.
A representative for the company said: “Our Whittaker’s Chocolate Kiwi is just on a break for this year.”
The local chocolatiers blamed a global cocoa shortage and production capacities for the product’s unavailability.
“As all Whittaker’s chocolate is made right here in New Zealand at our one factory in Porirua, this creates some constraints on how many different products we can make, and there are some added challenges from navigating the global cocoa shortage.”
Not flying off the shelves: Whittaker's chocolate kiwis aren't being produced in 2025.
When Whittaker’s launched their Easter product in 2016, they said twenty cents from every purchase would be donated to a charity working to reverse the decline of kiwi numbers.
Save the Kiwi Marketing and Communications Manager Erin Reilly told the Herald that even without their chocolate versions in shops, Whittaker’s remain engaged and enthusiastic supporters of kiwi conservation.
“For example, they recently donated blocks of chocolate to say ‘thanks’ to volunteers working at this year’s kiwi translocations at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari.”
The Porirua based company said they hoped the chocolate products hiatus wouldn’t be permanent.
Whittaker's donated blocks of chocolate to thank Save the Kiwi volunteers working on kiwi translocations at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari. Photo / Supplied
Asked about the pricing of chocolate in the Easter lead upin March, Whittaker’s told the Herald “a global cocoa shortage, has pushed prices for cocoa, and therefore for chocolate, up across the board over the past couple of years,
“While this has meant there has been an increase in the price of Whittaker’s 250g Blocks since last Easter, these generous locally-made products are always a good option for Whittaker’s Chocolate Lovers who want to treat themselves at Easter or make Easter treats with them.”
A Cadbury spokesperson said that while their Easter range hasn’t been impacted in terms of variety, they are dealing with the same pressure related to the “significant and sustained increase in global cocoa prices and other input costs,”
“While we have maintained a wide range of favourite items, there have had to be decisions made in terms of pricing and size of products as a way to manage the cost impacts, while being able to continue to provide consumers with the choice that makes Easter fun.”
Whittaker's Toffee Milks were discontinued in 2024, with the company saying other products are outcompeting the Kiwi classic.
“Unfortunately, production constraints have meant we’ve been unable to consistently make Toffee Milks for some time now, as the popularity of some of our chocolate block variants compete with Toffee Milk production, and we can’t see that changing any time soon,” A Whittaker’s spokesperson said in a statement to customers on social media.
