Weetabix quietly discontinues breakfast favourite across all UK supermarkets

WEETABIX has quietly discontinued a breakfast favourite leaving shoppers scratching their heads.

Alpen cereal bars have now permanently disappeared from supermarket shelves.

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The snack, usually topped with chocolate or yogurt, has been a staple in many Brits kitchen cupboards since the early noughties.

Alpen bars were also loved by many watching what they eat or following a Slimming World or Weight Watchers diet plan, as the treat was low in calories.

Eagle-eyed shoppers were left confused after being unable to find the food item on supermarket shelves for weeks.

One customer took matters into their hands and emailed Weetabix to find out where the product had gone.

They shared the experience on Reddit, writing that breakfast giant got back to them and said "they’ve discontinued the whole line".

The Sun reached out to Weetabix who confirmed Alpen bars are no more.

A spokesperson said: "As part of our focus on long term growth and simplifying the business, we made the decision to discontinue Alpen bars in 2024.

"This change enabled us to redeploy our teams toward our most valuable products, supporting the continued growth of our core operations."

"We’re pleased to confirm that, as a result of this decision, the majority of our brilliant people chose to stay and help us to remain focused on delivering the great-tasting, nutritious products our consumers know and trust."

The news has spurred heartbreak from many fans of the lighter snack.

One shopper shared: "I remember them from when I was a kid! That's really sad actually I loved those bars."

While a second devastated fan said: "Another icon gone, and I don't even have any left in the cupboard I can hawk on eBay, how sad."

And a third said: "Oh no! I must have been eating too many FibreOne products instead! Sorry Alpen! I used to eat so many Alpen bars when I was younger."

But others weren't so sympathetic, with another person sharing that the firm was "doing society a favour" by axing the treat, adding that it tasted "terrible".

Alpen's entire cereal bar range, which includes Alpen Light and Alpen Delight has been discontinued.

However shoppers can continue to buy it's range of muesli, which costs around £3 from major supermarkets.

You may still see some Alpen bars on shelves, but this is likely supermarkets selling old stock before their best before date hits.

Weetabix is not the only brand to pull the trigger on breakfast favourites.

Tesco left shoppers heartbroken when it confirmed it was no longer making its own-brand apricot wheats.

Nestle also said last summer it was no longer making Cheerios Vanilla O's, leading to heartbreak.

The giant also delivered another blow to shoppers when it confirmed that Golden Grahams cereal was not making a comeback.

Golden Grahams were popular in the 80s and 90s but were discontinued in 2021.

Kellog's has also axed a number of cereals, including All Bran Golden Crunch.

More recently, Salisbury's also said it was no longer selling Yeo Valley Organic Greek Recipe Peach & Raspberry Yogurts.

The product page on the retailer's website confirms that the item is now "out of stock" and said on social media it had been discontinued from stores.

Why are products axed or recipes changed?

ANALYSIS by chief consumer reporter James Flanders.

Food and drinks makers have been known to tweak their recipes or axe items altogether.

They often say that this is down to the changing tastes of customers.

There are several reasons why this could be done.

For example, government regulation, like the "sugar tax," forces firms to change their recipes.

Some manufacturers might choose to tweak ingredients to cut costs.

They may opt for a cheaper alternative, especially when costs are rising to keep prices stable.

For example, Tango Cherry disappeared from shelves in 2018.

It has recently returned after six years away but as a sugar-free version.

Fanta removed sweetener from its sugar-free alternative earlier this year.

Suntory tweaked the flavour of its flagship Lucozade Original and Orange energy drinks.

While the amount of sugar in every bottle remains unchanged, the supplier swapped out the sweetener aspartame for sucralose.