It's never really Christmas here in the UK until the iconic Quality Street box starts getting passed around.

Countless households will instantly recognise distinctive purple colour synonymous with the festive season, rummaging around the bright wrappers to find your favourite chocolate variety.

But this year, the box could look a little different, as chocolate giants Nestlé have given it a makeover for 2024.

From mid-October, select Tesco stores will be stocking your favourite Quality Street selections, but in a box made of paper instead of plastic for the first time ever.

More than 200,000 paper tubs will go out to selected Tesco stores this festive season, carrying around 150 tonnes of the popular sweets in total.

The trial is another step on Nestlé’s journey to reduce virgin plastic, following the decision to scrap the shiny chocolate wrappers a few years back.

The paper tub, which comes in the signature Quality Street purple, has a luxurious design, and feel, and is embellished with gold foil.

You can securely close it after opening thanks to the integrated re-close feature, and the best part is, it can go in the recycling bin when empty.

Significant testing has been carried out to make sure the beloved chocolates remain fresh whilst being stored in paper. Meanwhile, Quality Street will be evaluating the tub’s popularity with shoppers, feedback from supply chain teams and in-store teams at Tesco, as the iconic brand continues to innovate and seek ways improve the sustainability of its packaging.

Jemma Handley, senior brand manager for Quality Street, said: “We’re looking forward to seeing what Quality Street fans make of the paper tub. A lot of care and hard work has gone into the trial and we’re proud to be the first major manufacturer to trial a paper tub at Christmas.

"The beautiful design has been devised specifically for a paper product and we love how it looks, and of course, shoppers can expect the same great tasting Quality Street sweets that they know and love inside.”

“We know there are some Quality Street fans who, controversially, like to put their wrappers back in the tub once they’ve eaten them - with the paper tub, they can put the paper wrappers back for a good reason - it can go straight into the recycling.”

Cheryl Allen, Head of Sustainability – Confectionery Europe at Nestlé, said: “The Quality Street paper tub is an exciting innovation that we’re really proud of here at Nestlé Confectionery.

"We’re committed to making our packaging more sustainable, keeping in mind the changing needs of shoppers and advancements in technology.

"Of course, with all potential packaging changes, we want to get it right, so this trial will bring us valuable information to inform our next steps as we keep pushing to reduce our use of virgin plastic.”

Quality Street moved to recyclable paper packaging in 2022 for its twist-wrapped sweets. By replacing the double layer of foil and cellulose with a single paper wrap, Quality Street removed almost two billion pieces of packaging material from the brand's supply chain.

The chocolates are now also made using cocoa mass that has been specifically sourced from cocoa farming families that are part of Nestlé’s Income Accelerator Programme.