Find the golden stripe, win two free bags of Chokotoffs

While they’re no longer made here, Chokotoffs are still considered a quintessential Belgian product. The chewy chocolate toffees are produced by Côte d’Or and sold individually wrapped by the bagful, one of the brand’s most enduring and popular products.

But here’s something that even most Belgians don’t realise: A select few Chokotoff wrappers have a golden stripe hidden under the label. Find one, and the company will send you two free bags of the toffees. Belgian’s version of a golden ticket, if you will.

The practice had been all but forgotten, with the local branch of the company that produces Côte d’Or products – Mondelez International – only receiving one or two wrappers a month. But after a segment on the golden stripe – which to most Belgians was nothing more than a legend – aired last month on kids’ channel Ketnet, the wrappers have been pouring in.

Finding the stripe

While Chokotoff wrappers are full of golden stripes, the special one is hidden under the sticky label. According to Mondelez, this stripe first appeared in the 1950s. “It was probably to warn the factory workers that the roll of paper used to wrap the chocolates had to be replaced,” Annick Verdegem of the company told Radio 2.

But eventually the stripe came to be known as a portent of good luck. “A woman appeared in the newspapers who had won the lottery after she found a golden stripe in her Chokotoff,” explains Verdegem. “Even we in the company always check out wrappers for the stripe.”

The special stripe is only visible by peeling off the wrapper’s sticky label  ©VUB

While production methods have changed much since the 1950s, the company still puts the golden stripe on a few of its wrappers – less than 5%, according to Verdegem. Find one and send it via post to Mondelez (Stationstraat 100, 2800 Mechelen), and you will receive a congratulatory certificate and two bags of Chokotoffs back.

While very few used to come back, Mondelez has received 100 golden-striped wrappers since the segment aired on Ketnet.

Finding the stripe is not just as easy as untwisting the toffee’s famous wrapping, oh no. After you unwrap it, you have to carefully peel off the sticker in the middle. The stripe, should there be one, is underneath that sticker. Check out this Ketnet video to see exactly how to do it.

Verdegem emphasises that the original wrapper must be sent to the company via post to receive the free Chokotoffs. A photograph or scan or other such nonesense will absolutely not do.