The cost-of-living crisis has seen a steep increase in shoplifting and consequently in measures taken by supermarket giants to guard goods from being nicked.
Alcohol, meat and electrical goods are all routinely fitted with anti-theft tags or stored in secure cabinets.
However a Tesco store was recently spotted taking things to the next level – by placing chocolate bars in plastic cases.
The 120g Cadbury Dairy Milk caramel bars cost £2.10 each, or £1.75 for Clubcard holders – and now must be released by staff at the checkout before purchase.
Shoppers reacted with bemusement to the measure, which was spotted at a store in Seven Kings in Ilford, East London.
One, Kash Ali said: ‘Times are hard, people will nick anything.’
‘The case cost more than the chocolate bar’, another named Angela said.
A source from the supermarket chain said that security decisions are taken on a store-by-store basis and denied it was new policy.
This is not a completely new practice – confectionery is commonly sold in security boxes on the continent including at some stores operated by the French multinational giant Carrefour.
And it comes as major retailers have battled against a rising tide of theft and are having to balance repelling shoplifters with protecting their staff.
Lindt chocolate and £3.85 boxes of Persil pods were among items protected at Sainsbury’s in Barnet in September.
Packs of ham were also spotted fitted with security tags at a Tesco in Blackpool.
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Some Tesco stores have also installed slidable plastic strips on shelves in confectionery aisles.
Shoplifting reached a record high this year,with more than 530,000 instances reported in the year up to March 2025 alone.
Under the government’s new Crime and Policing Bill, offences of shoplifting under £200 will no longer be treated as a ‘summary only’ offence in a deterrent towards would be offenders.
The bill also creates a new offence of assaulting a retail worker.
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