Swiss food giant Nestle on Sunday confirmed about 12 tons, or 4,13,793 candy bars, of its KitKat chocolate brand were stolen after leaving its production site in Italy earlier this week for Poland. The company said it is coordinating with the local authorities and added that there is no issue in the supply chain.

"It seems thieves have taken the message too literally"

Earlier on Friday, the company, based in Vevey, Switzerland, said that "the vehicle and its load are still nowhere to be found". "We've always encouraged people to have a break with KitKat," a spokesperson told AFP, referring to its famous catchphrase. "But it seems thieves have taken the message too literally and made a break with more than 12 tons of our chocolate."

The shipment of the crunchy bars, made of waffles covered with chocolate, disappeared last week while en route between production and distribution locations. The chocolate bars were to be distributed throughout Europe.

ALSO READ: Doraemon Director Tsutomu Shibayama Passes Away At 84 After Battling Lung Cancer, Leaves Behind Iconic Anime Legacy

The missing candy bars could enter unofficial sales channels across European markets, the company said, but if this does happen, all products can be traced using the unique batch code assigned to individual bars.

How to identify stolen Kitkat shipment?

A spokesperson for KitKat said that as a result, consumers, retailers and wholesalers would be able to identify if a product is part of the stolen shipment by scanning the on-pack batch numbers.

If a match is found, the scanner will be given clear instructions on how to alert the company, which will then share the evidence appropriately. "Whilst we appreciate the criminals' exceptional taste, the fact remains that cargo theft is an escalating issue for businesses of all sizes," KitKat said in a statement.

ALSO READ: Is China Preparing For A Crisis? Mysterious Fishing Fleet Sparks Concerns

"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 statement added.

(With inputs from agency)