Chocolate Theft: Shops lock bars in anti-theft boxes as police and retailers warn of organised targeting
Retailers and police forces are increasingly locking chocolate bars in plastic or transparent anti-theft boxes as they warn that chocolate theft is being carried out "to order" and resold by criminal networks. The change follows CCTV and arrest evidence, losses groups that run dozens of stores, and calls from trade bodies for stronger police support and sentences.
Chocolate Theft boxed in London and beyond
Sainsbury's has begun using "boxes on products which are regularly targeted, " and one London branch has put £2. 60 bars of Cadbury Dairy Milk inside locked plastic boxes. Other major supermarkets, including Tesco and Co-Op, have fitted chocolate bars with transparent boxes that customers must ask staff to open. Stores are rolling out these measures in response to frequent thefts of confectionery.
Police footage shows large-scale takeaways in Stourbridge and elsewhere
Several police forces have posted videos in recent months showing large-scale chocolate thefts. West Midlands Police shared CCTV footage of a man grabbing trays of chocolate outside a shop in Stourbridge. Wiltshire Police published a video of a man dragging a whole shelving stand of chocolate out through a shop door. Earlier last year Cambridgeshire Police arrested a man wearing a coat full of Cadbury's Creme Eggs.
Cambridgeshire Police and national coordination
Some individual police forces have seen a specific trend of chocolate being targeted. Cambridgeshire Police said, "Chocolate is one of a number of high-value items thieves often target, along with products such as alcohol, meat and coffee. " The force added that "retail theft has a real and lasting impact – not just on businesses, but on the staff who have to deal with related abuse and intimidation. " The National Police Chiefs' Council said it was working to tackle this type of crime.
Heart of England Co-Op details losses and security spending
The Heart of England Co-Op group, which runs 38 stores in the West Midlands, Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, said chocolate theft cost it £250, 000 last year. The group said chocolate was its most stolen product in 2024 and in 2025 topped only by alcohol. Chief executive Steve Browne described chocolate theft as a "massive issue, " saying, "In a particular shop, one individual could cost us thousands of pounds in a week, " and adding, "They were coming in... then literally swiping the whole shelf. " Browne said a shelf of chocolate could be worth £500 and the group had spent £3m on security and other measures to prevent thefts.
Convenience stores, the ACS and industry calls for tougher action
The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) said chocolate is being "sold on by criminals and is now being targeted more frequently by prolific offenders. " The ACS said retail workers need more support from police and stronger sentences for criminals. James Lowman, chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stores, warned that "confectionery, like other products commonly stolen from local shops, is being re-sold through illicit markets that help fund wider criminal activity, " and urged action: "Alongside better police support and effective sentences for repeat offenders, we need action to shut down the networks re-selling stolen goods. "
Wider theft statistics and local shop responses
The British Retail Consortium's annual crime report found there were 5. 5 million detected incidents of shop theft last year, and 1, 600 daily incidents of violence and abuse against retail workers. That figure was down by a fifth on the previous year but still the second highest on record. Independent shopkeepers have changed displays in response: Sunita Aggarwal, who runs two convenience stores in Leicester and Sheffield, has reduced the amount of chocolate on display in her Sheffield store because of increasing theft, saying, "People are just coming in, and nicking boxes and boxes of chocolate. "
