For many sweet-toothed Britons, Christmas wouldn’t be complete without a tub of Cadbury Roses chocolates to dip into over the festive period. But fans have expressed horror at the discovery that company has changed the wrappers from sweetie-style twist-wraps to uniform “flow wraps” that have to be torn, rather than twisted, open.

Some consumers went as far as accusing Cadbury of, in keeping with the theme of 2016, ruining – well, pretty much everything. Mike Barker tweeted:

Cadbury has come under fire for making the chocolates a similar shape. Controversially, the hazel in caramel, the discerning chocolate-lover’s favourite, is no longer elongated, but a simple square.

Frustrating for the Roses fan, perhaps, but tragic for others. Ray Foley tweeted:

TJ Williams agreed:

Cadbury is owned by the US company Mondelēz, after the confectionery business of Kraft was split off into a separate company in 2012. The company has already faced the wrath of traditionalists after rounding the corners on Dairy Milk bars, substituting a cheaper chocolate for Dairy Milk in its Creme Eggs and stopping production of its chocolate coins.

It changed the wrapping of Roses in April, but it is only as the festive period descends upon us that people have started to complain with gusto.

Paul Osbourne tweeted:

While some moaned that the new wrappers made distinguishing between chocolates more difficult, others didn’t like the shape of them. Peter Ganley tweeted:

At least the new wrappers can’t be screwed up and put back in the box, which, according to some fans, is the ultimate sin:

At the time of the relaunch, Cadbury’s Tony Bilsborough said the company had changed the wrappers because “the quality of twist wrap was just not up to scratch”. He added: “Time and again we were getting complaints that the twist wrap was becoming undone, or the entire wrapper itself was appearing empty in the box.” It was the No 1 complaint, he said.

In a statement, the company said: “As a result of a multimillion pound investment in manufacturing, consumers will see a much-improved level of quality. We appreciate there’s some nostalgia for the twist wrap but quality must come first and we know consumers will appreciate the steps we’ve taken to protect each favourite and keep them fresh.”

Twitter user @SingleMumDiary said to the company:

In 2011 a tub of Roses went from 975g to 850g, in 2015 it moved down to 777g and when the new tub was released it went to 748g.

Asked if the chocolates were smaller following the redesign, a spokesman said: “While the weight of the individual units have adapted to accommodate the new shape and wrapper, there is no change to the overall weight in both tubs and cartons of Cadbury Roses. The changes relate solely to the shape and design.”

But for Conor Daly, the change to the Christmas treat was the last kick in the teeth from a year on the way out: