Britain is suffering from a shortage of the Cadbury Flake 99 due to supply issues at one of its manufacturing plants in Egypt.
It comes as the UK experienced its warmest day of the year on Friday, with temperatures expected to reach 34°C in some parts, well above the average for June.
Cadbury Flakes — often added to vanilla soft-serve ice cream cones to create the quintessentially British '99' treat — are a common sight at seasides across the country in the summer.
But an unseasonably warm late spring and early summer has meant Flakes are now in short supply.
Mondelez, the parent company of Cadbury, has blamed global supply issues and unexpected high demand for the scarcity of supplies.
“We have been experiencing some global supply chain disruptions, alongside a recent increase in demand for the product in the UK and Ireland above the levels that we had anticipated at the start of the year", the company told The National.
"Flake 99 is available for our customers to order but, for now, we are just carefully managing stock allocation fairly across all our customers.”
It added that the supply issues were "in line with what many other companies are reporting".
The iconic British brand, based in Bourneville near Birmingham, shifted production of the Flake to Dublin and an even larger facility in Egypt, which was built to satisfy the Middle East's insatiable demand of Cadbury chocolate.
It is now the second year running that the UK has suffered a Flake shortage.
The Ice Cream Alliance said: "There is, once again, a shortage of the Flake product.
"This is disappointing to our members and their customers as the Flake product is synonymous with the whippy ice cream known as the Flake 99 and enjoyed throughout the UK especially during the summer months.
"The ICA hopes that the supply issue is resolved as soon as possible to benefit both our members, the ice cream industry and their customers."
First introduced in 1930s, mystery over the Flake 99's unusual name circulated for years, with many people mistakenly assuming it was related to the item's price in pence.
Cadbury has admitted the origins are "lost in the midsts of time" but has speculated the name could be related to the elite bodyguard unit of the Italian king, which included 99 men.
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Ultra processed foods
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
The specs
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Price: from Dh209,000
On sale: now
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
