Aussies up in arms as Arnott's axes iconic staple: 'Ridiculous'
Biscuit lovers around Australia are up in arms today as news breaks of another controversial cookie cull.
Arnott's Biscuits have reportedly discontinued a cupboard classic, the nostalgia-inducing Classic Assorted biscuit packets.
2GB listener Peter Neve called into Ben Fordham Live on Friday morning, breaking the bad news to the stunned radio host and devastated office tea rooms everywhere.
Mr Neve said he first noticed something was up when he found the product was "missing for months, really, off and on" from the shelves of his local independent supermarket.
Initially Mr Neve wasn't too concerned, putting the intermittent availability issues down to a fire in a Sydney distribution centre.
"They had a fire in the distribution centre in Sydney so supplies were restricted of many products, and one of those was Arnott's biscuits," he explained to Fordham.
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"I'd find that my favourite product was missing from the bottom shelf.
"I didn't worry about it too much, until finally, another product turned up in its place."
Fears confirmed
Neve then told Fordham that, smelling a rat, he wrote to Arnott's Australia to check on the fate of his favourite biscuits and to his dismay, received a response from the company confirming his worst fears.
" Due to ongoing low sales and limited shelf space in supermarkets we have made the difficult decision to stop production of this product," the response from Arnott's reportedly read.
As of press time, the Classic Assorted packet is still visible on the Arnott's website.
Replacement?
Mr Neve then went on to accuse Arnott's of hitting consumers with the one-two combo of a price rise combined with a downsize, while also lamenting the lack of delicious diversity in their replacement product.
"And what do they do?" he asked the radio host.
"They replaced it with a package slightly smaller, 400 grams instead of 500 grams.
"We only get four different types of biscuits instead of six, and what's more, they increased the price."
An incensed Ben Fordham then asked whether his listeners were going to take the change on the chin or take to the streets in protest.
"The question is, are we going to cop this?" Fordham asked listeners. "Or are we going to fight back?”
Mr Neve, at least, is determined to fight the change, telling Fordham optimistically: "You can do miracles these days."
"I hope to see them back on shelves next week."
Classic Assorted fans speak out
After 2GB broke the news on Facebook, biscuit lovers voiced their anger over the Classic Assorted cancellation.
"That's ridiculous! That's one of their most popular products," commented one woman.
"This is outrageous, if they hadn't made the new packet they would have room on the shelves, and it's a lie that it wasn't selling it was very popular, not happy," wrote another unhappy customer.
Others joked that the biscuit pack was likely discontinued because someone found it offensive in some way, in a nod to today's so-called "cancel culture".
Arnott's has been contacted for comment.
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