Sometimes it makes perfect sense for a company to pull out a certain food from store shelves or menu. But other times we are left scratching our heads when some of our favourite foods go missing.
While many of these foods are lost forever, there is always a chance that companies will bring them back if you campaign hard enough, so never say never!
From the recently phased-out drink mix Nesquik to the fan-favourite KFC Avalanche, here are some of the food items that have disappeared in the past couple of years that we wish could make a comeback.
Redro and Peck’s Anchovette fish paste products
South Africans of all ages can agree that crisp toasted white bread, yummy butter and Pecks anchovette are what memories are made of. Pecks anchovette delivered on its unique taste character by only using the finest quality filleted anchovy fish.
But in January last year, Pioneer Foods decided to discontinue Peck’s Anchovette along with Redro.
Taking to Twitter, @BronyW wrote: “Very sad to see that Pecks Anchovette has been discontinued in SA along with Redro which will no longer be manufactured. A product that has been around since 1891.”
In a statement, category manager of Foods at PepsiCo SSA, Mandy Murphy said they made the decision to discontinue production of their Redro and Peck’s fish paste products as part of their ongoing portfolio review.
Murphy said they communicated this to their customers, stopped production and discontinued the sale of related items in December 2021.
Nestle Chocolate Log
We will remember the Nestle Chocolate Log with that creamy marshmallow centre, sitting on a crisp wafer and covered in milk chocolate. It was in July 2020 when the world’s largest food company announced that it would be discontinuing the production of Chocolate Log.
#The news was a massive blow for lovers of the sweet, marshmallow treat who had loved the taste of its gooey centre for the past 50 years.
Aubergine Speciality Foods, the South African supplier, made the startling announcement on Facebook, saying: “It’s a tragic day, Nestle chocolate logs will cease production in South Africa!”
Nestle further confirmed the news with an official statement.
"As Nestle, our purpose is to delight our consumers through tastier and healthier products. We know that one of the main drivers of the chocolate category is innovation and that consumers love new products.
“Taking this into consideration, we discontinue certain products and introduce new ones to the market,“ said Zweli Mnisi, head of public relations, media engagement and content digital – Nestle East and Southern Africa Region.
Simba ‘All Gold Tomato Sauce’ crisps
Simba, the king of snacks, ensured that every chippie was roaring with flavour, leaving you wanting more after every bite. But in July 2021, All Gold lost its roar as Simba lovers voted out the iconic tomato flavour.
Simba announced that its traditional tomato sauce flavour had been voted out by South Africans, following their “Choose Me or Lose Me” campaign.
The campaign invited fans of the delicious crisps to choose which of the three iconic flavour chip flavours – salt and vinegar, tomato sauce, and cheese and onion – should survive, and which one would be discontinued.
Simba salt and vinegar and cheese and onion survived the cut.
Senior marketing director for salty snacks at PepsiCo, and custodian of the Simba brand, Giulia Iorio-Ndlovu said South Africans had a distinctive set of tastes, which set them apart from other nations.
Ndlovu said they took their role very seriously in catering to these tastes, and that was why they consulted their consumers and let them have their say when they considered changing their flavours.
She said the “Choose Me or Lose Me” campaign had clearly caught the nation’s imagination, with thousands of votes having been received.
KFC Avalanche
Earlier this year, devastated fans of KFC took to Twitter to comment on the discontinuation of one of their favourite treats from the restaurant that still keeps them up at night – the Avalanche.
This came after the popular Twitter handle @UberFacts asked what discontinued food or beverage item users wished would make a comeback.
Tweeps named items including McDonald’s salad shaker, Taco Bell’s chicken-stuffed burrito, buffalo enchiladas, Doritos 3D and a drink from the 1970s called “Purple Passion”.
Another user, @emma_tcx, replied with a quote tweet of KFC’s Avalanche treat with the caption: “Can we all agree? @KFCSA.”
In a follow-up tweet, she wrote: “The worst part is they brought back the brownie avalanche last year and then discontinued it again (crying face emojis).”
Her reply started a whole new topic with South Africans on how the fast food restaurant made a “bad” decision by discontinuing the popular dessert.
Many tweeps begged the restaurant to bring it back.
Responding to one fan who asked KFC South Africa in 2020 to bring the dessert back, the brand said: “The Avalanche has been missed by us too. We will let the team know how sad the fam is without this treat. We can’t promise anything, but we can only hope!”
Nesquik
While we were still mourning the loss of the above-mentioned foods being discontinued, Nestlé SA then came with other shocking news that it will discontinue Nesquik in SA.
On Monday, news of Nestlé SA discontinuing Nesquik flooded social media leaving consumers devastated. In a statement, the company said it had decided to remove Nesquik Chocolate and Strawberry flavours (250g and 500g) from August 21.
It said: “This is owing to a drop in sales and lower demand for the product.”