Why do snack manufacturers change or discontinue popular products?

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Swines, they get you hooked then they change it. Or remove it entirely. Remember the old Milky Way? Was there really any need to change that?

And Monster Munch were so much better years ago when the Pickled Onion ones came in the red packet.

Smiths discontinued Crunchy Onion Square, and Tudor - WTF happened to Tudor crisps?

I ask you, why fix what's not broken?

― Rumpy Pumpkin (rumpypumpkin), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 07:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Oickled onion monster munch are still amazing no matter the color. The answer to your question is that they are marketed at kids, and if you ask any of em they will tell you the same thing, "if it aint new, its through."

― lukey (Lukey G), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 07:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Tudor, you could only ever get 'up north'. But they were 'manufactured in Reading'. Maybe that's why...

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 07:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Were 'Meanies' a purely Scottish phenomena? The little bags of 5p pickled onion crisps? I loved them so much I could cry.

― Rumpy Pumpkin (rumpypumpkin), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 08:01 (twenty-one years ago)

"I'd climb a mountain for a bag o tudor"

Meanies are (were? Aren't they still around?) superb.

Thankfully Space Raiders endure.

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 08:59 (twenty-one years ago)

and Transform-A-Snacks.

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 09:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Mmm, Space Raiders. I might go to the cash and carry and buy a box.

Meanies haven't been around for many years, I can't even remember who manufactured them.

I never did try Tudor Hedghog flavour but I wish I had. Sob.

― Rumpy Pumpkin (rumpypumpkin), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 09:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Transform-a-snacks! Did anybody ever waste their time trying to put them together to for a 'crispy' go kart?

Rarely fitted.

― Rumpy Pumpkin (rumpypumpkin), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 09:52 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm still smarting they changed the texture of 'Fruit Gums' from the ultra-tough, stuck to your teeth for days style, to a horrid 'Wine Gums' texture. Bastards!

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 10:15 (twenty-one years ago)

The best bit was always finding little nuggets of expoxy-textured sweetness in your teeth hours after eating a fruit gum. Bonus!

― Liz :x (Liz :x), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 10:19 (twenty-one years ago)

That's right, think they decided they 'posed a choking hazard' or something.

― Rumpy Pumpkin (rumpypumpkin), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 10:54 (twenty-one years ago)

you should write a letter to complain

― ken c (ken c), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 10:58 (twenty-one years ago)

titled: e-poxy the letter

― ken c (ken c), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 10:58 (twenty-one years ago)

My mates and I wrote a long winded letter of complaint to Rizla once because we'd bought a packet of really oddly shaped papers.

They sent all sorts of goodies, a box of skins which was quickly distibuted amongst us, a couple of coasters and a sticker. Well worth the price of a stamp.

― Rumpy Pumpkin (rumpypumpkin), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 11:21 (twenty-one years ago)

I read this thread as "Why do SMACK manufacturers change or discontinue products?" and thought "Wow, there's a whole world out there that I have no idea about..."

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 20:08 (twenty-one years ago)

this is my main beef with trader joes ( and i know why, but still..)

― kephm (kephm), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 20:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Good lord, no wonder you people have problems with your teeth.

― thank you, Wednesday, 13 October 2004 20:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Barbecue Beef (NOT Roast beef) Monster Munch. The crispy bacon ones too.

In Scotland: Highlander Big Yins. These super salty salt n vinegar corn snax. Meanies were awesome.

― Crisps Craig, Wednesday, 13 October 2004 21:04 (twenty-one years ago)

Pret a Manger do this too. There have been two sandwiches that I've really liked and they've discontinued BOTH of them and let their crappy rocket-based crap moulder on the shelves.

― Markelby (Mark C), Thursday, 14 October 2004 10:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Pret do sandwiches seasonally though, don't they? It's hard to get an avocado wrap in wintertime, but come the spring, there they are back on the shelves.

― Madchen (Madchen), Thursday, 14 October 2004 10:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Hmph. The got rid of the lush crab, avocado and crayfish (or something) sandwich just as spring was springing. They're frauds - I reckon it was a loss leader to get people to come back or more, only to have to settle for some other crap instead.

― Markelby (Mark C), Thursday, 14 October 2004 10:35 (twenty-one years ago)

I still mourn the passing of Covent Garden Soup Co.'s peanutty Thai Vegetable soup.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Thursday, 14 October 2004 10:43 (twenty-one years ago)

They are obviously following the No Shellfish When There's An R In The Month rule, Mark.

― Madchen (Madchen), Thursday, 14 October 2004 10:45 (twenty-one years ago)

sainsbury's stopped selling my staple diet 99p lasagne.

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 14 October 2004 10:58 (twenty-one years ago)

my Safeways in transmogrifying into a Morrisons so all the safeway's branded stuff i used to like, plus a lot of other things in general, are being replaced with (mostly) inferior Morrison's brand stuff.

still, on the other hand, they do introduce new and exciting stuff from time to time. just look at kitkats. first they were chocolate, then the yummy lemon and yoghurt, then LIME and yoghurt and, yesterday, i saw BLOOD ORANGE flavour (for hallowe'en):
http://snackspot.org/thread.php?story=0409231135sbc

― koogs (koogs), Thursday, 14 October 2004 11:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Morrisons is inferior to Safeway? But how can that be when most northerners swear by Morrisons and Safeway is really pretty dud?

― Markelby (Mark C), Thursday, 14 October 2004 12:03 (twenty-one years ago)

i miss the term "safeway savers"

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 14 October 2004 12:04 (twenty-one years ago)

morrisons seem to be cheaper now but i no longer see the "going off tomorrow meat" in cheap-ass packaging that leaves me in the comfort that i'm being really economical and buying second rate goods. (basically i miss tesco-value)

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 14 October 2004 12:06 (twenty-one years ago)

I only go to Pret in extremis, and on every occasion I am careful to denude their sandwiches of every trace of rocket and similarly inedible rabbit food.

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 14 October 2004 12:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Yet another way in which Marcello and I are spookily similar. Am I destined to look like Ken Stott in 10 years time?

― Markelby (Mark C), Thursday, 14 October 2004 12:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Morrisons can suck a shitty wire basket of dicks.

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Thursday, 14 October 2004 12:19 (twenty-one years ago)

marcello casarotto

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 14 October 2004 12:20 (twenty-one years ago)

morrison sold me very good icing yesterday though. in this magical cake making section of its store.

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 14 October 2004 12:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Morissons is good at certain things. I've only ever been to the Ipswich branch, but they have a fair range of beers and wine (with some very good offers on at times), the fish counter in particular is excellent compared to other supermarkets - very fresh and reasonably priced, and there are all sorts of things there which no-one else sells like fresh yeast.

Certainly better than the Safeway I remember having to shop at when I lived in Southampton.

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Thursday, 14 October 2004 12:30 (twenty-one years ago)

the only two things i can think of at the moment are safeways vegetable curry (various types have been replaced with chikpea dahl, which is nice in itself but there's no longer any choice) and safeways low fat lemon yoghurt so maybe i'm being a bit harsh. morrisons packaging seems to be less recyclable than equivalent safeways stuff. and shelves just seem barer in general.

and the see-thru bags are madness.

― koogs (koogs), Thursday, 14 October 2004 12:40 (twenty-one years ago)

they don't seem to sell onions in a big bag.

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 14 October 2004 12:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't know about all this crazy British snack stuff, all I know is that I hardly see Diet Vanilla Coke anymore, and that was the pinnacle of soda.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 14 October 2004 12:50 (twenty-one years ago)

now there's vanilla regular coke here and lemon diet coke

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 14 October 2004 12:52 (twenty-one years ago)

psssh

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 14 October 2004 12:53 (twenty-one years ago)

I am careful to denude their sandwiches of every trace of rocket and similarly inedible rabbit food.

You're showing your roots!

Morrison's is very cheap. That's really the best I can say about it. It's slightly better than Kwik Save, whereas Safeway was slightly better than Asda.

― Madchen (Madchen), Thursday, 14 October 2004 13:40 (twenty-one years ago)

iceland is still cheaper than safeways (although i'm only comparing the price of a pack of 8 chicken thighs.. which is all i seem to buy at the supermarket nowadays)

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 14 October 2004 13:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Why it's become so hard to find a damned two-liter of Mello Yello lately is beyond me.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Thursday, 14 October 2004 13:50 (twenty-one years ago)

strange. there is no mello-yello shortage in ky kroger stores. about the orange kit-kats-my friend yuka who is from osaka recently brought back lots of candy from her visit there. not only was all of the japanese candy much more delicious, but they had different flavors of american candies there that we can't get here. she had banana and orange kit-kats! and apparently there are strawberry ones too! this is unfair!

― Emilymv (Emilymv), Thursday, 14 October 2004 14:18 (twenty-one years ago)

I was pissed when Dunkin' Donuts stopped serving their almond croissant, and THEN stopped the maple frosted donut, but they seem to have brought the latter back.

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 14 October 2004 14:39 (twenty-one years ago)

the site i linked to above has melon kitkats too. collect the set.

― koogs (koogs), Thursday, 14 October 2004 14:48 (twenty-one years ago)

seven months pass...

the dark-and-light mars bar. oh, how i miss it.

apparently - according to a swift google, anyway - there's now something called the mars midnight, which is basically the same thing. fucked if i've ever seen it in glasgow, though.

at least there's still the topic bar. the day they discontinue the topic bar is the day i shoot myself.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:38 (twenty years ago)

Baskin Robbins, I still remember your Valley Forge Fudge. How long did it last — two or three months? Bastards.

― Rock Hardy (Rock Hardy), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:45 (twenty years ago)

I'm still really, really disappointed that I can't find any of those sugar-free gummy fruit candies Walgreens used to sell all the time. They were packaged in a tray which came in a bag and the little candies were coated with this sugar-free powdered sugar approximation. Those were Mom's absolute favorite candies and I would have loved to continue purchasing them for her the way that Dad used to. I wonder if I can find them online. If I can, that would be the greatest thing ever.

I remember really, really liking Milky Way Lite. I wonder what happened to that candy. I mean, yeah, Three Musketeers is pretty good, but I thought Milky Way Lite was better, and sometimes I would eat the candy with pecans I would toast in the oven and really, really get into the combination.

― The Kind and Benevolent Oracle of Dee (Dee the Lurker), Monday, 13 June 2005 00:38 (twenty years ago)

Mars Midnight is a north american thing, i think. very similar to the dark and light.

― jed_ (jed), Monday, 13 June 2005 00:44 (twenty years ago)

Tim's Cascade Chips! Bring back your ketchup flavored run! They were even better than Old Dutch's north of the border!! :(

― donut e-goon (donut), Monday, 13 June 2005 00:51 (twenty years ago)

ben and jerry's discontinued their best flavour caramel chew chew. they do too many chocolate ice creams now. i dont like chocolate ice cream.

― jed_ (jed), Monday, 13 June 2005 01:02 (twenty years ago)

milky way midnight is BETTER than regular milky way. so good.

― Maria (Maria), Monday, 13 June 2005 01:06 (twenty years ago)

I have seen Mars Midnight advertised here but I thought it was an ICE CREAM for some reason. Bonkers.

Meanies were definitely not a Scotch thing only, unless Blackpool counts as Little Scotland On Sea, which, er, it does I suppose, seeing as I also grew up on square sausage, irn bru and a belief that one day we would overthrow the yoke of the Sassenach Opressor.

These days I realise how stupid this all was and revel in my opressive nature. Now, shouldn't some of you be paying me RENT?

― Lucretia My Reflection (Lucretia My Reflection), Monday, 13 June 2005 12:09 (twenty years ago)

PS - orange curly-wurlies.

― Lucretia My Reflection (Lucretia My Reflection), Monday, 13 June 2005 12:12 (twenty years ago)

I read this as "smack."

― RS (Catalino) LaRue (RSLaRue), Monday, 13 June 2005 12:20 (twenty years ago)

Hahaha, I thought it said "smack" manufacturers and thought "hey"!

― Lucretia My Reflection (Lucretia My Reflection), Monday, 13 June 2005 12:24 (twenty years ago)

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