Sweet toothed Irish people were left bereft at the news that Cadbury’s owner Mondelez decided to shelve the Pink Snack bar.

However Gerard Maguire, owner of 64 Wine in Glasthule, Co Dublin, has taken it upon himself to save the bar as we know it,by starting a social media campaign #SavePinkSnacks to keep it on our shelves.

He took to social media on Friday to drum up support for the campaign.

A post on 64 Wine’s Facebook page reads: “Gerard is bereft!!!!! His favourite indulgence; the Pink Cadbury Snack bar is being discontinued!!! Realising it would leave a huge gap in his life, he bought all the remaining stock: Tea without a Snack Bar was unimaginable! Having bought up all the stock he then felt guilty of depriving others of its wafery goodness, so he has started a campaign for its return. Come into 64 Wine to sign the Save our Snack Campaign!!!”

A spokeswoman for Mondelez said the company had decided to discontinue the iconic chocolate wafer snack for Irish consumers due to a steady decline in the bar’s popularity in recent years.

The announcement follows a decision in May 2013 to reduce the number of chocolate fingers in a Pink Snack pack from three to two.

Upon hearing the news on Friday, Mr Maguire bought up as many of the bars as possible.

“I went down to Musgrave wholesalers and bought up boxes and boxes of pink snack bars, they were all roaring laughing at me,” he said.

Mr Maguire said he has around 20-30 boxes of Pink Snack bars, which he gives away for free to children and sweet toothed adults in his wine shop.

“I could be cynical and hide them away and sell them at an inflated price when they go off the market, but where’s the joy in that? I’d rather make the kids happy and give them away for free,” he said.

Mr Maguire said although the campaign is “tongue in cheek” he wants to make a wider point about supporting Irish products and jobs.

“The Pink Snack bar is a good product. Perhaps, if we had have bought more of them and supported a product that is made in Ireland, we wouldn’t be in this position,” he said.

He encouraged more people to shop local and buy Irish products to support jobs.

“More than 200 people are set to lose their jobs and they’re probably not going to walk into similar jobs easily. The impact of those job losses on a community can not be underestimated.”

Mr Maguire paid tribute to the people of Glasthule and Dun Laoghaire for supporting his business during the recession.

“People could have gone elsewhere for cheaper wine in Aldi or Lidl but they supported my shop and I was able to keep people in employment because of that. I hope more people will see how important it is to support local businesses,” he said.

Mr Maguire has set up a petition, calling on fans of the Pink Snack bar to sign in a bid to keep the Pink Snack on Irish shelves. There is also a hashtag #SavePinkSnacks.

He said he was taken aback at the reaction on social media and said it showed how the pink snack bar still has a place in Irish people’s hearts.