tesco locks up £1.75 cadbury chocolate bars in security boxes

Cadbury Dairy Milk caramel bars have become the latest product to be locked up in security boxes at Tesco (Picture: JamPress)

The cost-of-living crisis has seen a steep increase in shoplifting and consequently in measures taken by supermarket giants to guard goods from being nicked.

Alcohol,meat and electrical goods are all routinely fitted with anti-theft tags or stored in secure cabinets.

However a Tesco store was recently spotted taking things to the next level – by placing chocolate bars in plastic cases.

The 120g Cadbury Dairy Milk caramel bars cost £2.10 each,or £1.75 for Clubcard holders – and now must be released by staff at the checkout before purchase.

Shoppers reacted with bemusement to the measure,which was spotted at a store in Seven Kings in Ilford,East London.

One,Kash Ali said: ‘Times are hard,people will nick anything.’

‘The case cost more than the chocolate bar’,another named Angela said.

A source from the supermarket chain said that security decisions are taken on a store-by-store basis and denied it was new policy.

This is not a completely new practice – confectionery is commonly sold in security boxes on the continent including at some stores operated by the French multinational giant Carrefour.

The bars cost £2.10 or £1.75 with a Clubcard,but are a common target for sweet-toothed thieves (Picture: Jam Press)

And it comes as major retailers have battled against a rising tide of theft and are having to balance repelling shoplifters with protecting their staff.

Lindt chocolate and £3.85 boxes of Persil pods were among items protected at Sainsbury’s in Barnet in September.

Packs of ham were also spotted fitted with security tags at a Tesco in Blackpool.

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Some Tesco stores have also installed slidable plastic strips on shelves in confectionery aisles.

Shoplifting reached a record high this year,with more than 530,000 instances reported in the year up to March 2025 alone.

Under the government’s new Crime and Policing Bill,offences of shoplifting under £200 will no longer be treated as a ‘summary only’ offence in a deterrent towards would be offenders.

The bill also creates a new offence of assaulting a retail worker.