A bulk shipment of 12 tons of KitKat chocolate bars was stolen overseas in Europe just before Easter Sunday.
The heist took place in Europe, and the candy goods were stolen from a truck holding 413,793 bars that boasted KitKat’s “new chocolate range,” CBS News reported via Agence France-Presse (AFP), a French news authority. Nestle, KitKat’s Swiss owner, said the shipment vanished last week while the truck was en route between “production and distribution locations,” according to the outlet.
A massive 12-ton shipment of Nestle’s crunch KitKat bars was stolen in a chocolaty heist that risks causing a shortage in stores right before Easter. https://t.co/lY76zzhwIe
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 28, 2026
“We’ve always encouraged people to have a break with KitKat,” a spokesperson told AFP, alluding to the well-known KitKat marketing catchphrase. “But it seems thieves have taken the message too literally and made a break with more than 12 tons of our chocolate.”(RELATED: Grandson Of Reese’s Candy Accuses Them Of Quietly Changing Recipe)
The truck departed a chocolate factory in central Italy and was headed for Poland, but somewhere in-between “the vehicle and its contents [were] unaccounted for.”(RELATED: Mars To Invest $2 Billion In US Manufacturing)
EUROPE: 12 tonnes of KitKat and the truck transporting them were stolen while in transit from central Italy on the way to Poland.
— First Squawk (@FirstSquawk) March 28, 2026
Due to the heist, Nestle warned that there may be a KitKat shortage across Europe in the weeks leading up to Easter.
Furthermore, a black market for KitKats may surface.
Nestle hopes to use the barcodes on each candy bar to track the goods, stating, “If a match is found, the scanner will be given clear instructions on how to alert KitKat who will then share the evidence appropriately,” the company said, according to the outlet.
KitKats were first released back in England in 1935 and were initially sold as “Rowntree’s Chocolate Crisp,” according to KitKat.com.
By the 1950s, the candy rebranded, and the KitKat name appeared on store shelves around the globe.
