Shopping

Nestlé makes ‘difficult decision’ to axe popular nostalgic chocolate biscuit bars

The end of an era.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 8th February 2024

Nestlé has made the “difficult decision” to discontinue two of its popular chocolate biscuit bars, and fans are gutted about it.

That’s right – whether we like it or not, it’s time to say goodbye to Breakaway bars and Yorkie Biscuits.

Breakways, in particular, have been an absolute staple of childhood snacking for countless Brits over the past couple of decades.

First manufactured all the way back in 1970, the chocolate digestive biscuit bars have made their way into many a school lunchbox, or stuffed into pockets for an on-the-go sweet treat – but as of next month, they will no longer be produced.

Nestlé says this decision has been taken due to a decline in sales, and in an effort to “make way for investment and innovation” across the company’s wider portfolio of products.

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The brand says it knows fans will be “disappointed” with the choice to axe the product.

Nestlé makes ‘difficult decision’ to axe popular nostalgic chocolate biscuit bars / Credit: eBay | Wikimedia Commons

Speaking on the reason behind Breakaways being discontinued, a spokesperson for Nestlé UK & Ireland said: “We know fans will be disappointed to see it go, but it’s time for us to say goodbye to Breakaway, as we have seen a decline in the sales over the past few years, and unfortunately, we had to make the difficult decision to discontinue it.

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“By saying goodbye to Breakaway, we can focus on our best-performing brands, as well as develop exciting new innovations to delight consumers’ tastebuds.”

Thankfully though, it’s not quite the end of the road just yet, as before Breakaway fans begin their grieving process, they can head to their Sainsbury’s store throughout February and March to get their hands on and stock up on the chocolate-covered biscuit bar while stocks still last.

It’s not only Breakaways that we have to part ways with either sadly, as Nestlé has also taken the decision to axe Yorkie Biscuits alongside them.

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Both Breakaways and Yorkie Biscuits will stopped being produced from the end of next month / Credit: Nestlé

Somewhat less commonly-found than Breakaways, Yorkie Biscuits – which are also not to be confused with the actual Yorkie chocolate bars, which Nestlé says is “staying for good” – are another sweet treat to be discontinued due to declining sales.

But despite having to say goodbye to two nostalgic snacks, Nestlé has assured shoppers that it has “plenty of exciting new products” lined up for 2024.

The brand also announced that new hazelnut-flavoured Blue Ribbands are on the way this month.

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Hitting supermarket shelves very soon, and hoping to soften the blow and fill the gap left by the two losses, the Blue Riband Hazelnut takes the classic Blue Riband bar that we all know and love, and fills it with a smooth hazelnut filling layered between the wafers.

So make sure to keep your eyes peeled next time you’re doing a big shop.

Featured Image – Nestlé

Shopping

‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data

Danny Jones Danny Jones the average price of a pint in the UK by region

Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.

Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.

The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.

While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.

@the.manc Just trying to walk home and the Northern Quarter keeps tempting me in for a pint. 🙈 #themanc #manchester #mcr #northernquarter #spring ♬ original sound – The Manc

The average price of a pint per region in the UK

  1. Wales – £4.21
  2. North East – £4.28
  3. Northern Ireland – £4.42
  4. Scotland – £4.42
  5. Yorkshire and the Humber – £4.42
  6. North West – £4.42
  7. West Midlands – £4.42
  8. East Midlands – £4.42
  9. East England – £4.56
  10. South West – £4.93
  11. South East – £4.94
  12. London – £5.44

That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.

Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.

Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.

Happy hour Manchester – The best drinks deals in the city centre
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.

London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)

While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.

To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.

CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.

Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…

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For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — The Manc Group

Shopping

Tesco are introducing ‘VAR-style’ self-checkouts in the UK

Danny Jones Danny Jones Tesco VAR self checkout video

Many people think VAR has already gone too far and want it gone from football full stop, and we’re here to tell you that you’re a fool; your hopes are in vain, and the technology is only going to become more common as time goes on. Sorry.

So much so, in fact, that Tesco look are bringing in their own virtual referee into self-checkout systems in shops. You could say the ‘game’s gone…’

Of course, we’re being a bit flippant here, but if you have seen ‘VAR’ and ‘Tesco‘, you’re not seeing things: this is genuinely a thing that is being rolled out here in the UK, with video footage of the supermarket chain’s next self-checkout technology going viral online.

Thought you’d got away with sneaking an extra little something in the bag without paying? Think again.

We’ll admit, this was the first time we’d come across the technology, but as it turns out, the updated self-checkout service has been in place for a while.

Similar VAR checkouts have already been installed at other retailers, Sainsbury’s and ASDA, although some reports claim that while stores capture footage of shoppers to check if they’ve scanned all of their items, it is thought that not all of these self-service tills show a playback when an error is detected.

Although this particular speculation has sparked some uproar and debate online, many have quite rightly pointed out that CCTV records your movement in any given shop.

Regardless, it’s fair to say that aside from the obvious memes and people poking fun at the new system, many on social media have shared some pretty strong opinions on the matter.

Not that it matters much – it’s likely this will soon become increasingly the norm, with the likes of Sainsbury’s having already introduced barriers which require customers to scan their receipt in order to leave at branches such as the site on Regent Road Retail Park over in Salford.

As yet, it’s unclear how many of these new self-service tills are in operation and whether they are limited to larger supermarket locations of their Express convenience stores, but don’t be surprised if you come across one.

Put simply, if a barcode isn’t registered before being put on the scale and/or set aside to be packed away, the Tesco till will read: “The last item wasn’t scanned properly. Remove from bagging area and try again.”

While it is obviously an effort to curb stealing, which remains one of the big drawbacks of self-service (shoplifting in England and Wales went up by 20% last year), Tesco has insisted that the goal is to improve convenience.

Addressing these new VAR-style checkouts in an official statement, a company spokesperson said: “We are always looking at technology to make life easier for our customers.

“We have recently installed a new system at some stores which helps customers using self-service checkouts identify if an item has not been scanned properly, making the checkout process quicker and easier.”

What do you make of the new Tesco and their new VAR self-checkout technology?

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You can now get a Pot Noodle as part of your Tesco meal deal
We don’t know about Tesco perpetuating VAR, but we can definitely get behind this one – that’s for damn sure.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Tesco PLC/pin add/Mikey (via Flickr)

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