Chocolate Anti Theft: London supermarkets lock Dairy Milk and Lindt in plastic boxes as shoplifting spikes
Stores in the UK have started deploying Chocolate Anti Theft measures after a rise in thefts of bars such as Cadbury Dairy Milk and Lindt, with transparent plastic boxes and other protections being used to prevent items being taken and resold. Retailers and police forces say the move reflects a shift in how chocolate is being targeted and why it matters for costs and shopworker safety.
Chocolate Anti Theft measures deployed across UK supermarkets
Sainsbury's has introduced clear boxes on products that it says are regularly targeted, with one London branch placing a £2. 60 bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk inside a locked plastic box. Supermarkets including Sainsbury's, Tesco and Co-Op have fitted chocolate bars with transparent boxes that customers must ask staff to open. Some shops have also used sliding plastic barriers on shelves, with signs reading: "Restricted: For stock enquiries, please ask a member of staff. "
Which products are being locked and how stores are protecting them
Bars of Dairy Milk and Lindt have been secured in plastic boxes, and higher-end brands have also been protected. In a London convenience outlet, 120g bars of Cadbury's Dairy Milk and Oreo being sold at £1. 50 (reduced from £2. 40) were held in security boxes. Other protected items observed include £3 bars of Tony's Chocolonely and £3. 85 bars of Green & Black's and Lindt Excellence. Some boxes are fitted with electronic alarms; other measures cited by retailers include plastic sliders on shelves, security tags and restricted fill levels.
Police footage, arrests and the pattern of organised theft
Several police forces have highlighted a trend in which chocolate is being specifically targeted. West Midlands Police shared CCTV of a man grabbing trays of chocolate outside a shop in Stourbridge, while Wiltshire Police posted footage of a man dragging a whole shelving stand of chocolate out of a shop door. Earlier last year Cambridgeshire Police arrested a man wearing a coat full of Cadbury's Crème Eggs. National policing leadership is said to be working to tackle this type of crime.
Scale of the problem: incidents, costs and shopworker harm
The British Retail Consortium's annual crime report recorded 5. 5 million detected incidents of shop theft last year and 1, 600 daily incidents of violence and abuse against retail workers. That total was down by a fifth on the previous year but remained the second highest on record. Retailers faced 5. 5 million incidents of shoplifting that together cost more than £400 million. Official figures published in July showed the number of shoplifting offences recorded in England and Wales rose to 530, 643 in 2024-2025, up 20% from 444, 022 in 2023-2024 and the highest total since current police records began in 2002-2003.
Retail and local business impact
The Heart of England Co-Op group, which runs 38 stores across the West Midlands, Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, said chocolate theft cost it £250, 000 last year. Chocolate was the group's most stolen product in 2024 and was only topped by alcohol in 2025. Chief executive Steve Browne described chocolate theft as a "massive issue, " saying a single individual could cost a particular shop thousands of pounds in a week by literally swiping whole shelves. He said a shelf of chocolate could be worth £500 and that the group had spent £3 million on security and other measures to prevent thefts.
Voices from independent retailers and industry bodies
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 have been "coming in, and nicking boxes and boxes of chocolate. " The Association of Convenience Stores has warned that confectionery is being sold on by criminals and is now being targeted more frequently by prolific offenders, and it has called for more support for retail workers from police and stronger sentences for criminals. The British Retail Consortium's crime lead noted that retailers have invested over £5 billion in the last five years to tackle theft and crime. Industry representatives say tackling networks that re-sell stolen goods and increasing enforcement are key, with some executives urging better police support and effective sentences to disrupt organised resale markets.
Recent changes in store layout, increased use of locked packaging and publicised police footage underline how the problem has shifted from occasional opportunist thefts to more organised activity in some areas. Details may evolve as retailers and law enforcement continue to adapt their responses.
