MetaChat - Product withdrawal blues:

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18 November 2008

Product withdrawal blues: what food-items have recently disappeared from the shelves of your supermarket, corner shop or grocery store? →[More:]

At one time our local supermarket stocked freshly-baked bagels - not, perhaps, bagels as you might know and love them: these Swedish variants were crispy when they had no right to be, but they were bready and ring-shaped & tasted pretty good (if not at all authentic) when toasted, but then one day they were nowhere to be found.

Then there was the sad case of the chocolate-chip muffins. A new brand of these muffins appeared maybe six to nine months ago: my wife loved them. I would pick up a couple every Saturday morning for her. Then, a couple of months back, I counted no such muffins in stock - and my hopes that this were a temporary anomaly were dashed, when replacements consistently failed to arrive.

Most recently of all, there was the frozen chopped spinach with garlic: a very convenient & tasty side-dish. All I can find in stock now are the other five kinds of frozen spinach, so I'll have to resort to buying one of those & adding my own garlic: the least of inconveniences, but still...

On the plus side though, they had some actual English cheddar cheese there yesterday: my eyes nearly popped right out when I saw it. I bought four packs of it, as bitter experience has taught me that I may never see it there again.

post by: misteraitch at: 05:29 | 21 comments

My Dalmatia fig jam was gone for about a month when my favorite grocery store remodeled. They had another brand--a fig and ginger preserves--which was not an adequate substitute at all. Then, one day, I saw three jars shoved in the back of a display and I bought them all! I was so excited! I felt like I had scored a secret prize. Of course, now, they stock the Dalmatia fig jam again, but I won't need to buy it for a while.

posted by crush-onastick 18 November | 08:48

My All Bran Yogurt Bites cereal has disappeared from several of the stores I visit regularly. I hope it doesn't go away completely :-(

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 18 November | 09:23

There was a kind of cream cheese that was imported from Australia. It came with garlic and chives, or with apricots and some sort of nuts. ..really good. In a way I feel better about it not being in my store due to the carbon footprint this stuff must have had. . .but still.

posted by danf 18 November | 09:26

Corn Toast 'r Cakes.

Actually, that wasn't recent.

posted by serena 18 November | 10:18

I haven't been able to locate a cameo, jazz or braeburn apple yet so far this year. I'm thinking this is for the same reasons danf's cream cheese is missing. While I appreciate the global economic and environmental impacts, it still makes me sad.

posted by lonefrontranger 18 November | 11:02

posted by Miko 18 November | 11:11

EVERY TIME OF THE YEAR THAT IS NOT EASTER TIME I AM ANGRY ABOUT THE ABSENCE OF CADBURY CREME EGGS.

posted by Wolfdog 18 November | 11:16

My Kashi Mountain Medley granola is gone for good. I've been googling up a storm and it seems like they aren't making it anymore. Which sucks because it was awesome and I am super picky about my granola (no orange flavor, no coconut, more than just oats, etc).
I should probably make my own but the thought of buying brown rice syrup and all those expensive dried berries drives me crazy. Though I am sure it would be cheaper than buying the packaged stuff. I'm not so rational.

Also I went to buy the Pilsbury roll-out pie crust to make the mini-pies yesterday and they didn't have any of that either.

posted by rmless2 18 November | 11:49

I moved away from Las Vegas and I miss mexican markets in general.

posted by Ardiril 18 November | 12:26

Trader Joe's is out of tamales. We lived on them for six months (beef, chicken, and green chile cheese) and now they are GONE. There is a hole that cannot be filled.

posted by pinky.p 18 November | 13:21

Honest Tea Cinnamon Gold Rush. It's been gone for a while and I miss it.

posted by mygothlaundry 18 November | 13:26

I can't find the kind of flour taco shells I like anywhere in Buffalo anymore.
And, Wegmans no longer has the chipotle tobasco for reasons known only to them.

posted by kellydamnit 18 November | 13:52

Cinnamon Chips, for baking. Found some one time, never again. I've resorted to buying 5 lbs. at a time from Amazon.

posted by trinity8-director 18 November | 14:12

I have no favorite things. I had to give it up, because as soon as I decide something is my "favorite", every store in Greece will stop carrying it.

Their number is legion, but very sorely missed at this point is Revithia, a chickpea soup that I used to get frozen, and it was wonderfulwonderful. Just add water, toss in some olive oil and maybe a couple of strips of hot pepper to add a slight bit of extra oomph, and it was perfect. Yummy, garlicky, gorgeous broth, perfect consistency, dead simple. So it had to die.

posted by taz 18 November | 14:46

- my hippie-dippie all-natural peanut butter. On too many occasions, the market has only the unsalted pb. Listen, marketers, I want wholesome pb, but not that wholesome, please!
- blueberry jam.
- inexplicably, canned cannellini beans have disappeared. I may have to ask about them, or special-order a case.
- King Arthur white whole wheat flour has finally returned! For about two months, it was out of stock whenever I looked.
- my corner market is transitioning from carrying various brands of soda to carrying only Pepsi products. When I feel the need for an occasional Coke, I'll have to make a special trip to some other store.

posted by Elsa 18 November | 15:04

Not recently, but Archway used to make these awesome little cookies at the holidays that were kind of a cross between their cashew cookies and their praline cookies -- they had sort of a fizzy malt crunch going on.

I miss these too. if memory servers there was some kind of recall/scandal the last year they offered them. Something about broken glass?

posted by Lentrohamsanin 18 November | 16:36

I love Dalmatia fig jam! I keep trying to come up with something neat to do with the leftover jars, I like their shape.

• Mother's Frosted Circus Animal cookies (of course, since I've already made a post about them). I'm hoarding a few bags in the chest freezer. Ditto Archway Soft Molasses cookies.

• Hansen's Natural Tangerine Green Tea Soda. I made the mistake of buying a 4 pack on clearance at my local grocery, fell in love and now would have to drive many miles to the nearest Whole Paycheck to have more.

• Going way back: Quisp cereal, unfrosted Brown Sugar/Cinnamon Poptarts, and butterscotch Space Food Sticks.

In the welcome back category: my local grocer used to offer kick-ass cake donuts. Then they switched to Krispy Kreme, which is fine if you like raised donuts but KK makes lousy cake (and all KK taste terrible the next day). KK scaled their presence way back here and the very tasty local cake donuts returned. Yay!

posted by jamaro 18 November | 18:12

I forever lament the minimal availability of Frankenberry. Mmm, Frankenberry...

And for some reason, Charmin Ultra toilet paper is sometimes hard to find at my local Key Food. I had to settle for Cottonelle. It's not the same. : (

posted by Pips 18 November | 18:35

Cadbury fingers used to be readily available (Ralphs grocery chain, Target, etc.). Now I have to go to the British import shop in Santa Monica to get my fix.

Also, Trader Joe's (at least my local one) no longer seems to carry those large bars of not-quite-Manner-wafers-but-closely-related covered in thick chocolate... does anyone know what I'm talking about? Seriously amazing.

I am picky about my chocolate cookies!

posted by scody 18 November | 18:40

Dalmatian fig jam lovers: Everything else in Dalmatia is just as tasty. Visit Croatia!

I dreadfully miss Tanqueray Malacca Gin, which was pleasantly fruitier than the usual dry gin, and made for a lovely G&T. It disappeared in 2004, alas.