What Happened to the Whole Foods Berry Chantilly Cake?

If you’ve ever been tasked with bringing an aesthetically pleasing, distinctly summery dessert to a get-together, you’re probably familiar with berry chantilly cake—specifically, Whole Foods Berry Chantilly Cake. It’s become a staple in the world of grocery store baked goods (which we know a thing or two about), as well as a TikTok phenomenon. Perhaps that’s why there was such an uproar when fans started to notice that slices of the cake looked…different than they used to.

What is berry chantilly cake, and what does Whole Foods have to do with it? 

Berry chantilly cake is a perfect crowd-pleasing treat. First of all, it’s pretty: An all-white, layered stack with a bright pop of berries on top is very aesthetic, by modern minimalist standards. It’s also light and refreshing—layers of a vanilla sponge with a chantilly cream (made with whipped cream, mascarpone, sugar, vanilla), and berries piled on top and nestled in the cream between the layers. The flavor profile is pretty ideal, too—perfect to satisfy a sweet tooth but not saccharine enough to alienate people who don’t love sweets. 

Since it launched nearly 20 years ago, the Whole Foods Berry Chantilly Cake has become an institution. What made it so special? According to Amazon reviews, it’s really just an all-around perfect concoction, with “ripe in-season berries,” a “sweet, but not too sweet icing,” and “very light and fluffy” sponge. One reviewer went so far as to claim it’s better than a similar cake “from a very famous luxury cake bakery in Los Angeles” (as Angelenos, we can tell you they’re talking about Sweet Lady Jane).

So what happened to the Whole Foods Berry Chantilly Cake people knew and loved?

To be fair, it appears that the full-size berry chantilly cakes are fine (for now). But when it comes to the individual slices of cake, people are demanding explanations. Now I’ll be honest: I’m no berry expert or chantilly expert or berry chantilly expert, but even a casual observer can spot the bright-pink strip of jam where the berries should be from a mile away. To add insult to injury, the cake now comes with a handful of fresh berries on the side—and slices are $0.50 more expensive, too.  

Correct me if I’m wrong, but expecting “berry chantilly cake” to have berries in it seems pretty realistic. So what else is left to do when Whole Foods decides to rejigger a beloved recipe and raise the price on top of that? Rise up, of course. Okay, that may be an exaggeration, but the recipe change sparked plenty of conversations about “shrinkflation” and late-stage capitalism on TikTok, so it’s not a huge leap. 

Based on the TikToks we watched and the comments we read, there’s a general consensus that Whole Foods is cutting corners and increasing profit at the expense of product quality. It’s a bad look! And it seems Whole Foods actually agrees. A spokesperson told Axios that it had taken customer feedback into account and that “the single slices are anticipated to go back to the way they were by the end of the week.” Berry chantilly cake crisis averted. Thanks, TikTok!