Bounty chocolates ditched from Celebrations tubs in trial by Mars Wrigley

Bounty, Mars, Snickers, Milky Way, Galaxy, Maltesers: which chocolate would you choose first from a box of Celebrations?

Perhaps more importantly, which would you shun?

Every household has its favourite from a giant box of chocolates, and there is usually one type of sweet left languishing in the box at the end.

Mars Wrigley is to trial removing Bounty bars from its Celebrations chocolate tubs in a pre-Christmas test after finding that 39 per cent of consumers want the coconut-flavoured treats banished.

Customers at selected Tesco Christmas Market sites in the UK will be able to exchange tubs bought in store that day for a new “No Bounty” alternative until December 18.

The limited-edition tubs will include additional sweets to make up for the missing Bounty bars.

Mars Wrigley said its research of 2,000 Britons aged between 18 and 65 suggested that 18 per cent would feel irritated to find only Bounty bars were left in the tub, while 58 per cent believed it would lead to a family argument.

While 39 per cent wanted the bars gone for good, 22 per cent liked Bounty the least of all the tub’s options.

About 28 per cent were of the opinion that coconut had no place in a chocolate bar at all.

However, Mars Wrigley said it was not prepared to make a final decision yet after 18 per cent said the Bounty was their favourite.

Polling suggested it was popular with a more mature palette, with 38 per cent of over-55s choosing it as their preferred bar.

It follows a Bounty return scheme last year, in which Bounty-haters were able to return their unwanted chocolates and swap them for Maltesers after the Christmas period.

Celebrations senior brand manager Emily Owen said: “Last year, we gave customers the opportunity to return their unwanted Bounty chocolates. Now, off the back of public demand, we’re trialling taking them out of the tub altogether.

“You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. And to those loyal ― and secret ― Bounty lovers out there, there’s still a chance they’ll make a return after the trial.”

The trial, which many will see as a convenient PR stunt, will run at 40 Tesco Christmas Market locations between November 8 and December 18.