Nottingham student Shannon Beech has been crowned the queen bee of Cadbury's after winning a national competition to design a new chocolate bar.
Her invention, called Cadbury Dairy Milk Honeycomb & Nuts, won over the nation's tastebuds in a public vote.
It even had the celebrity backing of Love Island presenter and self-confessed honeycomb enthusiast Laura Whitmore, who filmed herself dancing an Irish jib dressed as a honey bee to celebrate Shannon's victory.
The 20-year-old, from Sutton-in-Ashfield, beat 120,000 entrants to make the final.
In an epic journey to create her winning formula, she visited the Cadbury Kitchen in Bournville, the home of Cadbury, where she worked with chocolate experts to experiment with more than 90,000 possible combinations.
Since then Shannon has seen her bar hit supermarket shelves nationwide before being crowned the nation’s favourite.
The teenager, a journalism student at Nottingham Trent University, said: "I was completely shocked to know I won the Cadbury Inventor competition.
"I was up against some tough competition so I am very pleased to know that my Cadbury Dairy Milk Honeycomb & Nuts bar will be in stores up and down the nation."
The chocolate bar combines milk chocolate with golden crunchy honeycomb pieces and sweet, tasty caramel-flavoured fudge, finished with chopped hazelnuts to add a nutty crunch to every bite.
Her original entry went on sale in supermarkets across the country earlier this year and is still available while stocks last. But after a makeover it returns next January as a limited edition addition to the iconic Cadbury Dairy Milk range, alongside favourites such as Caramel, Fruit & Nut and Whole Nut.
Laura Whitmore said: "I had no doubts that the Cadbury Dairy Milk Crunchy Honeycomb bar was going to win. There’s nothing like this in the UK, and I’m going to be the first in line to get my hands on it when it makes its official debut next year as Honeycomb & Nuts. I said I would attempt an Irish jig if the bar won, and I’ve delivered. Queen Bee has officially arrived!
Beatrice Berutti, tablets brand manager at Cadbury, said: "We’re absolutely thrilled to reveal Shannon as the winner of our second Cadbury Inventor Competition. We love experimenting with different flavours, especially when we can bring our fans into the process of inventing new and wonderful creations.
"Cadbury Dairy Milk Honeycomb & Nuts mixes classic ingredients in a unique and mouth-watering way, which is just one of the reasons why it has captivated the nation – including presenter Laura Whitmore."
