UK stores locking up chocolate to stop theft
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READING:
Shops in the UK are going to extreme lengths to stop shoplifters from stealing chocolate. Stores are locking chocolate bars in plastic security boxes. Customers must ask a member of staff to unlock the box if they want to buy one. One leading supermarket said it has begun using "boxes on products which are regularly targeted" by thieves. Another popular store, the Co-op, said chocolate theft was a "massive issue". It said: "In a particular shop, one individual could cost us thousands of pounds in a week." It added that some shoplifters "literally swipe the whole shelf" of chocolate.
Chocolate is the latest target of criminal gangs. A convenience store association said chocolate is being stolen by "prolific offenders" and then sold on the black market. A spokesman said only alcohol was stolen more often in 2025. Another association said: "Chocolate is now a target, deemed to be 'high value,' so retailers have installed anti-theft devices." There were more than 5.5 million reported incidents of shoplifting in the UK last year. In London, only five per cent of these ended up in the courts. Sadly, there are 1,600 violent attacks against shop workers every day.
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