Decoding the Fruity Mystery: Exploring Cadbury's Fruit and Nut Bar Recipe Change

There are some questions you expect from catering students.

How do you temper chocolate?

Why does ganache split?

Why does cocoa butter behave as though it has a personality disorder?

Then, years ago in Bruges, a student asked me something rather more important:

“Raisins, sultanas or currants — what’s actually in Cadbury Fruit & Nut?”

And down the rabbit hole I went.

The question eventually led me to look at Cadbury’s recipe change, dried grapes, chocolate economics and even the way big manufacturers respond when ingredient prices start moving in the wrong direction.

More than a decade later, I thought it was time to revisit the story.

And it turns out the mystery has become even more interesting.

The Great Fruit & Nut Change

Cadbury Fruit & Nut had traditionally contained raisins. Then, in 2015, Cadbury announced that some bars would contain sultanas instead.

Predictably, Britain reacted as though someone had proposed replacing tea with warm tap water.

At the time Cadbury said the change was intended to give it greater flexibility in sourcing dried fruit while retaining quality and keeping the product affordable. The company also said consumer trials involving 200 adults found people could not distinguish between the raisin and sultana versions. 

Importantly, the bars were to contain either raisins or sultanas, rather than both. 

So what happened next? fast Forward to 2026

Here is where things get interesting.

Look at Cadbury’s current UK ingredient list for Dairy Milk Fruit & Nut and you won’t find the word raisin.

You won’t find sultana either.

The ingredient is now simply listed as: “dried grapes”

The current 180g and 280g Fruit & Nut products both list: milk, sugar, dried grapes, cocoa butter, almonds, cocoa mass, vegetable fats, emulsifiers and flavourings. 

And that, in a strange way, solves the whole argument.

A raisin is a dried grape.

A sultana is a dried grape. Cadbury no longer needs to invite us into the finer points of grape genealogy on the front of the packet.

From a manufacturing point of view, that wording also provides considerably more flexibility.

Raisin, Sultana or Currant What’s the Difference?

This is where supermarket language can become rather confusing.

In British usage, a raisin is generally a dried grape, usually darker and denser.

A sultana is also a dried grape, traditionally made from a pale seedless grape and typically softer and lighter in colour.

Then there are currants and here we mean dried currants used in baking, not blackcurrants from a bush.

Those little dark currants are dried grapes too, traditionally made from the Black Corinth grape.

So three ingredients that look very different in a Christmas cake all begin life as grapes.

And suddenly “dried grapes” doesn’t seem such a ridiculous description after all.

Was It About Sugar?

When I originally wrote this article, I wondered whether changing the fruit might have had something to do with government pressure on manufacturers to reduce sugar.

Looking back, I need to correct that theory.

The UK’s Soft Drinks Industry Levy the so-called sugar tax applies to qualifying drinks, not chocolate bars. HMRC’s current rules define the levy specifically around packaged drinks with added sugar. 

There was separate government pressure on manufacturers to reduce sugar in foods including chocolate and confectionery. Public Health England’s voluntary sugar-reduction programme covered nine food categories, one of which was chocolate and sweet confectionery. 

But I have found no evidence that Cadbury’s 2015 switch between raisins and sultanas was made to reduce the sugar content of Fruit & Nut.

Cadbury’s stated explanation was much more mundane: sourcing flexibility, quality and affordability. 

Sometimes the supply chain is the story.

And What Is Fruit & Nut Like Now?

The current 180g bar provides 500 kcal and 54g sugars per 100g, according to Cadbury’s own product information. 

Perhaps more interesting for chocolate geeks is the declaration on the larger bar: Cadbury states its Dairy Milk chocolate contains a minimum 20% cocoa solids and minimum 20% milk solids, with an actual milk-solids figure of 23%. It also declares vegetable fats in addition to cocoa butter. 

That tells us considerably more about the chocolate than arguing over whether the dried grape once answered to the name Susan the Sultana or Roger the Raisin.

The Packet Has Changed Too

The packet that prompted me to revisit this article is one of Cadbury’s current 2026 promotional packs.

The small print advertises Cadbury’s Giveaway Giveaway, running from 5 August to 4 November 2026, with a £/€25,000 main prize and a series of instant-win prizes. Cadbury’s published terms confirm those dates and prize tiers. 

Packaging changes.

Promotions change.

Recipes change.

Even the language used to describe ingredients changes, but Fruit & Nut is still recognisably Fruit & Nut.

So What’s the Answer?

If somebody asked me today: “Chef, does Cadbury Fruit & Nut contain raisins or sultanas?”

My answer would be: Yes. Sort of.

Cadbury currently calls them dried grapes. 

And perhaps that’s the most gloriously sensible conclusion to a debate that has been rumbling around since 2015.

The chocolatier in me wants precision.

The chef in me wants flavour.

The manufacturer wants a reliable supply chain.

And the person eating the bar probably just wants another square.

Some mysteries are better when they’re wrapped in purple.