Cadbury '99' Flake shortage hits UK and Ireland and people are not taking it well

A sudden shortage of Cadbury "99" Flakes has been compared to the 2011 Marmite drought in NZ, known as Marmageddon. Photo / Getty Images

The UK has been through its fair share of crises over the past year. But just as Brits were emerging blinking into the tepid sunlight after an extended lockdown, another body blow has hit. And it could ruin summer.

Britain, and Ireland too, has run out of Cadbury Flakes. "Panic" – no really, "panic" – is setting in.

Not just any Flakes mind you. A very specific kind of Flake that is burned into the British summer psyche – the half size bars stuck into the whipped vanilla icecream in cones known as "99" Flakes.

Indeed, the addition of a stumpy Flake is what elevates your standard icecream cone to the dizzying heights of a "99".

As the UK and Ireland head into the summer months the shortage of Cadbury "99" Flakes has whipped many an icecream fan into a frenzy. Photo / Getty Images

The chocolate shortage threatens to ruin sales from icecream vans where many of the 99s are dispensed from.

Many have been puzzled to learn the quintessential British seaside treat is at least partly suffering shortages because of a lack of supply from not England or Ireland, but North Africa.

Previously Flakes for Britain and Ireland were produced at a Cadbury factory in suburban Dublin.

However, now only a few Flakes come from Dublin with most produced far more than 99km away – in Egypt.

Despite the summer time heat in Cairo, where days of 30C plus are standard, Egypt is one of Cadbury's most important markets where locals can't get enough of Dairy Milk bars and presumably Flakes.

Breaking News: Cadbury 99 Flake Shortage Hits UK!
Hundreds & Thousands at risk!🍦#BorisJohnson #JohnsonVariant pic.twitter.com/sOtChlGrON

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Declan O'Conner, who sells icecreams from the Beach World shop in Tramore, County Waterford, told the Irish Examiner he had been "tipped off" that 99 Flakes were vanishing in England.

"There was a big scramble to see if we could get as many as we could to try and keep us going until they're available again.

"Potentially there isn't going to be any 99s and a 99 is the Flake – other than that it's just a plain old cone".

Importer Andrew Hepburn of DG Foods said icecream sellers were desperate to get their hands on their remaining Flakes.

"There is a panic, and people are buying more stock than they normally would – they want to make sure they're the one that doesn't run out of a Flake."

Cadbury's owner, US firm Mondelez, told the BBC that a post-lockdown surge in icecream sales had wiped out the supply of 99 Flakes.

"We are seeing a recent increase in demand for our Cadbury 99 Flake.The product is still available to order and we're continuing to work closely with our customers," the company said in a statement.

The Flake furore brings to mind another stressful shortage, much closer to home. In 2011, jars of the yeast extract Marmite vanished from New Zealand supermarket shelves after the Christchurch earthquake damaged the one factory it was produced in.

Marmite wouldn't be produced again in NZ for two years. The disappearance became known as "Marmageddon" with Marmite hoarders selling their jars online for inflated prices.