Not so Bounty-ful: chocolate bar to become latest casualty of supply-chain chaos, as Russian maker reportedly warns of shortages

Confectionery giant Mars has reportedly warned one of its top-selling bars faces shortages in Russia after high demand and a fall in supply of raw materials, sparking fears for popular sweet treats amid disruption across Europe.

The chocolate giant, which also produces much-loved candies including Snickers, M&M’s, Maltesers, 3 Musketeers and Milky Way, is said to have cautioned that customers of its Bounty-brand bar could see a shortage over the coming months following a possible lack of coconut flakes, which are vital for production of the tropical-inspired snack.

At the same time, in an internal document reportedly seen by Moscow’s Kommersant, the Russian arm of Mars warned about a “forced restriction” of supplies under the Bounty brand. The letter also says that despite the increased demand for the chocolate bar outweighing a shortfall in the yield of raw materials needed for production, the company’s warehouses should be fully replenished with stock by mid-October.

Market research organization Euromonitor International estimated that in 2020 around 1.1% of the total confectionery-market segment in Russia was occupied by Bounty, with sales of about 4.98 billion rubles. The same year, the total revenue for Mars in the country was 139.5 billion rubles.

This is not the first time in recent years that the Mars company has faced issues with consumer supply. In March 2020, the chocolate factory in the UK producing the country’s favourite Mars products was hit by a mechanical glitch, which came only a month after the confectionery conglomerate recalled batches of its Revels brand chocolate treats following reports that they could have contained pieces of metal.

The most recent obstacle to hit the company comes after a poor harvest of coconut chips. Analysts say that typhoons in the world’s second largest producer of coconut, the Philippines, damaged around 49 million trees used for harvest, which could have a knock-on effect over the next two to three years. Mars has played down the possibility of shortages on the consumer end.

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