Is Cadbury Bournville Vegan?

For years, Bournville was the go-to vegan chocolate in Ireland and the UK: a dark bar you could pick up in any newsagent or supermarket. That changed in 2021, when skimmed milk powder appeared on the ingredient list.

Bournville ingredients

The Bournville Classic dark bar lists: sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, palm oil, emulsifiers (soya lecithins, E476) and skimmed milk powder.

What changed in 2021

In July 2021, shoppers noticed that skimmed milk powder had been added to the ingredients of Bournville Giant Buttons. The Classic dark bar followed. Vegan groups noticed quickly, because Bournville had been one of the few mainstream dark chocolates widely accepted as vegan.

Cadbury has told several writers that the recipe itself didn't change: the chocolate isn't made with milk, and the milk powder is listed because Bournville is made on equipment shared with Cadbury's milk chocolate, so it can contain traces. Either way, milk is now on the ingredient list rather than in a "may contain" warning, so we no longer count Bournville as vegan.

Which Bournville products are vegan?

Is it still worth eating if you're plant-based?

That depends on why you're vegan. If milk powder on the label is a dealbreaker, it's out. If you mainly avoid buying products that use dairy as an ingredient, Cadbury's explanation may matter to you, but there's no way to check it from the pack. If you have a milk allergy, avoid it entirely.

Bournville cocoa for baking

The tin of Bournville cocoa powder is still a good vegan baking staple. Use it for brownies, chocolate cake and hot chocolate made with oat or soy milk.

Vegan dark chocolate to buy instead

In Ireland and the UK, there are plenty of dark bars without milk on the label:

• Supermarket own-brand dark chocolate: many lines are labelled vegan, such as Sainsbury's Stamford Street range. Check the label, as not every dark bar is.
• Brands that are fully vegan, so every bar is dairy-free.
• High-cocoa bars (70% and above) are often dairy-free but may carry a "may contain milk" warning, which most vegans accept.

Always check for milk, milk powder, butter oil, milk fat or whey in the ingredients, not just the "may contain" line. For more, see the vegan candy list.

Who owns Cadbury?

Cadbury is owned by Mondelez International. Cadbury lost Fairtrade certification on its main lines in 2016 and moved its cocoa sourcing to Mondelez's own Cocoa Life program.

The bottom line

Bournville isn't vegan by its own label. Use the cocoa powder for baking, and pick a dark bar labelled vegan for eating.