It turns out the criminal underworld has quite a sweet tooth.
Nestlé says that nearly 12 tons of KitKat Formula 1 chocolate bars, equaling 413,793 candy bars, were stolen after leaving its production site in Central Italy last week.
KitKat announced on Instagram on March 29 that the sugary shipment was pilfered in transit between its factory and its destination in Poland.
“We are working closely with local authorities and supply chain partners to investigate,” the brand wrote. “The good news: there are no concerns for consumer safety, and supply is not affected. Thank you.”
In 2025, KitKat became F1’s official chocolate bar, with the collaboration launching during F1’s 75th anniversary and KitKat’s 90th anniversary. During KitKat’s first season as F1’s official chocolate partner, the company revealed the first-ever life-sized chocolate-molded F1 car made by master chocolatier Jen Lindsey-Clark.
KitKat appears to be taking things in stride, saying that it appreciates “the criminals’ exceptional taste,” but pointed out that cargo theft is an “escalating issue” for businesses of all sizes.
“We’ve always encouraged people to have a break with KITKAT — but it seems thieves have taken the message too literally," a KitKat representative tells TODAY.com.
The company pointed to research from the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) and the Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA) showing that nearly 160,000 cargo-related crimes were recorded across 129 countries between 2022 and 2024, costing companies billions.
According to the American Trucking Association, thieves targeting freight shipments cost the American economy up to $35 billion per year.
“With more sophisticated schemes being deployed on a regular basis, we have chosen to go public with our own experience in the hope that it raises awareness of an increasingly common criminal trend,” the spokesperson says.
The stolen product can be traced via a unique code tied to individual KitKat bars, so consumers, retailers and wholesalers who are afraid sticky fingers were involved in their KitKat bars can verify it for themselves by scanning the on-pack batch numbers.
KitKat says that if a match is found through this method, the scanner will be given clear instructions on how to alert the company who will then share the evidence appropriately.
The company requests everyone to not attempt to locate, handle or recover any stolen goods and to not take any direct action.
This bit of “gimme a" breaking news, predictably, sent the internet into comedy mode.
“Did they make a break for it?” asked one user.
Another commenter cleverly joked, “Four finger discount.”
