Cadbury’s Secret Santa - send someone a free chocolate bar

Cadbury’s Secret Santa is back, and here we explain how you can send a free chocolate bar to someone special, in secret

Close up of Cadbury's chocolate broken into individual squares
(Image credit: Newscast / Getty images)

Cadbury’s Secret Santa is a small gesture that means you can light up someone’s day by sending them a free chocolate bar.

Returning for its fifth year, Cadbury’s has brought back its free chocolate bar service for Christmas until 24 December. 

With more than 120,000 chocolate bars available, Cadbury’s is sending people on the hunt to look for their virtual posters which are in over 200 locations, instead of its usual pop-up stalls.

Here’s everything you need to know to send a free Cadbury’s chocolate bar to someone special this year.

Cadbury's Secret Santa

How does Cadbury's secret santa work?

You have to scan Cadbury's QR code with your phone, which you can find on Cadbury’s virtual posters up and down the country, in more than 200 locations. 

Once scanned, you will be taken through to Cadbury’s Secret Santa Postal Service and this will tell you if there are any chocolates in stock at your location. 

If there is, Cadbury’s will take you through a step-by-step process to send a free chocolate bar, in secret. 

If there are no chocolate bars in stock in your location, you can try the following:

  • Go to a different location.
  • Enter Cadbury’s prize draw for a chance to win one of 500 chocolate bars that can be sent to someone for free, in secret, using Cadbury’s postal service.
  • Alternatively, Cadbury’s have a Secret Santa shop where you can pay and send someone chocolates for free, in secret. This gives you more options, such as creating your own Cadbury’s box, bag, hamper or basket of chocolates.

Note, you only have 10 minutes to fill out the form if you get a free chocolate bar, so to speed up the process, Cadbury’s advise to keep the recipient's address at hand and to keep an eye on the time

Where can I find the Cadbury virtual posters?

The good thing about the virtual Cadbury posters is there are prompts and clues, so you’re not going in with your eyes closed. 

Keep tabs on the Cadburys Postal Service Website, which gives you live updates on where the posters can be found, in over 200 locations around the country. 

On the website you will see a map with different areas of the country pinpointed. You can click on any and it will tell you which cities or towns in that area have a virtual poster, where you have a chance of bagging a free chocolate that day. 

Posters can be found at bus stops, train stations and local high streets.

What Cadbury products can you send?

Cadbury chocolate products available to send (subject to availability) are:

  • Original Cadbury Dairy Milk bar (110g)
  • Oreo (120g)
  • Caramel (120g)
  • Wholenut (120g)
  • Fruit and Nut (110g) 
  • Plant (90g) 
  • Cadbury Dairy Milk Mini Snowballs bar (110g) 
  • Cadbury Dairy Milk Winter Wonderland bar (100g)

Do I pay anything?

It sounds too good to be true, but there is no catch. Cadbury’s Secret Santa Postal Service lets you send a chocolate bar for free, in secret to someone special, providing that you find a QR code on a Cadbury’s virtual poster.

Vaishali Varu
Staff Writer

Vaishali graduated in journalism from Leeds University. She has gained experience writing local stories around Leeds and Leicester, which includes writing for a university publication and Leicester Mercury. 

She has also done some marketing and copywriting for businesses.

When she is not writing about personal finance, Vaishali likes to travel and she's a foodie.