The hunt is on across Europe after 12 tonnes of KitKat chocolate bars vanished after thieves made ‌off with the truck transporting them.

Swiss food giant Nestle, which owns KitKat, said the truck carrying a staggering 413,793 bars of its ‌new range ‌had set ⁠off from central Italy on a near-1300 kilometre journey to distribute ​the chocolate throughout Europe.

But it never reached its scheduled final destination in Poland and both vehicle and merchandise remain unaccounted ⁠for.

“We’ve always encouraged people to have a break with KitKat — but it seems thieves have taken the message too literally and made a break with more than 12 tonnes of our chocolate,” a company spokesperson said.

Nestle did ‌not ​reveal where exactly the truck was ​lost.

The company said the heist could lead to shortages of the crunchy bars — made of wafer covered with chocolate — on supermarket shelves in some European countries in the lead-up to Easter.

It also warned that the missing chocolate bars “could enter unofficial sales channels”. If that happened, Nestle said, the bars could be traced through unique batch codes on each one.

Anyone scanning a ​batch number from the stolen ​chocolate will receive ‌instructions on how to contact KitKat.

The investigation into the missing haul continues, aided by local authorities and the company’s supply chain partners.

“Whilst we appreciate the criminals’ exceptional taste, the fact remains that cargo theft is an ​escalating issue for businesses of all ​sizes,” KitKat ⁠said.

“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.”

Nestlé emphasised its commitment to the investigation and cooperation with authorities.

“Any theft is concerning,” it said.

-with AAP