Starburst Brand Silently Retired in Australia

Since this hasn't been reported on anywhere I'd thought I'd make a post here.

The lollipops were discontinued for 2020, all the Snakes/Party Mix/Babies etc were discontinued for 2021, and the last remaining item in the Chews have been discontinued for 2022. The Chews are now on clearance almost everywhere, hence the cheap pricing for them.

Sad to see, liked their stuff a lot more than Allens etc, but not surprising since Coles stopped selling almost the entire range in 2018 and Woolies stopped in 2016.

Related Stores

starburst.com
starburst.com

Comments

  • +9

    This is a shame.

    I prefer Starburst Snakes and Fruit shaped jellies to the Allens ones.

    The green flavour is one of my favourites and I normally dislike the green ones (for Allens anyway),

    • +4

      have you tried the natural confectionery company snakes ? smashing 2 bags a week these days…pretty damn good

      • +5

        Doesn't sound great for your health?

        • +14

          That is the least of my worries between fast food 4 times a week, half pack of darts a day and an addiction to mr black coffee liqueur over bulla vanilla Icecream

      • +1

        I'm the opposite, hate the Natural Confectionery snakes, much prefer the Allens.

      • They're just ok, nothing comes close to the starburst unfortunately…

    • +6

      The green flavour is one of my favourites

      And you can eat them outside in the garden and no one can see you doing it

      • +2

        …but if they do see you doing it, you're nicknamed 'the weirdo that eats earthworms' for life

    • I prefer starburst, but there was always something similar but cheaper, except the chews.
      I just could never justify the extra $

  • +2

    Oh what, why?

  • +1

    Really loved their fruity gummies - concur with tsunamisurfer that the green apple was bloody delicious. Still think (and salivate) about it!!

  • Won't miss them. I found their strawberry flavour in particular really odd, tasted like cough medicine or something other than strawberry.

    • +3

      The strawberry was my second fav flavour - can't recall being a fan of the dark green leafy bit, but thought it was pretty yum overall.

      • Strawberry is generally one of my favourite flavours as well which is why it annoyed me so much.

  • +5

    Damn, grew up with the chews. I'll miss them.

  • +1

    Source please?

  • +3

    A sad day

  • +2

    Noooooo… I love the pink chews 😭

    • +1

      the bag of pink only tasted funny to me

      Always loved the cherry red chews.

  • +1

    Collector items

  • -6

    more disgusting yank candy off the shelves, good times ahead for lolly lovers.

    • +5

      Ah yes, less options. Much better

      • -2

        less options of rubbish on the shelves, yes.

    • STRAYA

      • +1

        OI OI OI, OI GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM!

  • +6

    It's a shame, they were much better than Allen's. I liked the refreshing fruity flavour they had..

  • I used to like the snakes, but I obviously haven't missed them since 2018.

  • +1

    I used to love the filled starburst ones that came in like a plastic packet ages ago

  • +2

    Starburst Squirts were the best. Their downfall started when they were discontinued.

    • Yes the squirts! They were the ones haha

      • Berry Bliss is the closest you can get to them now and they're not the same thing.

    • I refuse to eat any named squirts or slider..

      • -1

        Does it offend you?

      • Damn it, I meant to type anything, not any.

        And yes, because eww :)

  • +2

    Oh noooo I love their babies and chews :(((((

    • +6

      can't tell if serious. There's sugar in basically all supermarket food.

      One less available option out of a million isn't going to put a dent in anything (or prevent dents in any teeth)

      • -2

        https://theconversation.com/study-reveals-australian-childre…
        Study reveals Australian children overdosing on sugar
        Published: October 19, 2012 1.48am BST

        More than half of young Australians are consuming too much sugar, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Wollongong and University of Sydney.

        https://theconversation.com/how-much-longer-do-we-need-to-wa…
        How much longer do we need to wait for Australia to implement a sugary drinks tax?
        Published: June 10, 2021 2.16am BST

        The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has once again called for a tax on sugary drinks in Australia. This time, the proposed tax is a key part of the AMA’s blueprint to make Australia the healthiest country in the world.

        May be it's time?

        • +5

          Maybe people/parents could take some responsibility and not over indulge in sugary products, (profanity) paying more because others can't moderate.

        • +1

          How about for a change instead of hitting struggling families by hiking up costs, lower the costs of healthy foods so more people can afford it.

          • +1

            @dasa: Hiking the cost of sugary food is a net benefit for the public health system.

            • @rektrading: But no good for struggling families that can only afford cheaper options which is normally junk food.

              • +1

                @dasa: Might be no good for them economically (though I suspect that's debatable), but I think we'd do better with a little healthy food a bit hungry than plenty of junk food and the health consequences.

              • @dasa: 🍭 and 🥤 isn't something children should eat as a meal.

            • @rektrading: Gotta say I agree with this. I reckon we've done a great job making smoking unaffordable (sorry Jimmy… well, actually, I'm not). We should do the same with alcohol, junk food and anything else that puts a burden on our health system.

              I think removing the laws against drugs then taxing the crap out of them might be more effective too.

              Medicare surcharges will eventually be more than income tax if we don't do something. Taxing the root causes seems like a good idea to me.

  • +2

    Anyone else when Coles had their own brand of lollies in 2014? Peggy Pig & Pals were so amazing.

  • My son recently asked me to buy some Lifesavers.

    Round hard lolly with the a hole…. could not find it at Coles or Woolies..

    Had a look online and I believe it's gone.

    • +1

      Lifesavers fruit tingles still exist but now in bags instead of the rolls. There's a delicious chocolate with fruit tingles bits in it too.

      • +1

        Thanks, I'll get him the Lifesavers fruit tingles to see if he likes them.

    • +1

      The fruit lifesavers have been gone for many years (somewhat ironically they still use the multicoloured style rings and strips in marketing to an extent) but you can still get the musk and peppermint I believe and the brand recently launched a whole range of lollies..

      • ok… I think my son is looking for the OG fruit lifesavers.

        Never knew they had disappeared. I note you can get them on Amazon, shipped from the US but I don't need a box of 20 rolls..

  • I still call them Opal Fruits, mostly to annoy my kids.

    Were they ever called Opal Fruits in Australia?

  • +5

    Lets hope Starbucks is next

    • Not sure about Sydney but I was in the CBD yesterday and there were long queues in both Starbucks on Swanston St. Looks like they're doing reasonably well since they re-entered Oz.

  • +3

    My family owned a corner store when I was young (the seventies). We had the lolly counter and kids would buy bags of mixed lollies. Those lollies tasted the best, artificial flavours and colours and all. Most lollies these days taste like crap because the do gooders have tried to make them healthier - no artificial flavours or colours. Hello! They’re still lollies full of sugar! I remember jelly babies with the white powder in them, lolly teeth big enough to actually fit in your mouth, cobbers, chocolate buddies, snakes, black cats, musk sticks, etc that all tasted great rather than sour.

    • +1

      And we are still kicking and alive having eaten much of them.

  • They were my favourite lollies too, especially their snakes. All the other brands just aren't nearly as good imo…

    Very sad to see this, noticed them slowly leaving my local supermarkets a few years ago, then I think I could only get them at a servo… haven't been able to find any for a while now 😓

  • Walked into my local servo cos I had to make sure. It's a coles express and they had starbursts on the rack.

    • won't be any new stock coming in once they sell out of the ones on the rack.

      • A sad day :(

  • Lame, I loved those packets of the 4 berry mixes. Woolies have a knock off version now but is far worse.

  • +2

    I remember this post. It's just made the news today, including response from the company:

    A spokesperson from Mars Wrigley, which manufactures Starburst, revealed the true reason the popular treats were so hard to find currently in Australia. And for fans, it isn’t good news.

    “We regularly review our Mars Wrigley product range to ensure we’re offering our consumers great tasting products that are also great value for money,” the spokesperson told news.com.au.

    “Our STARBURST® products are imported from Europe and like many businesses that are importing products from overseas, the brand has been exposed to supply chain difficulties and rising cost pressures over the last two years.

    “After reviewing all options, we’ve made the difficult decision to discontinue the brand in Australia from June 2022.

    “As a proud Australian manufacturer for more than 60 years, we are taking this opportunity to prioritise and invest in the brands and products we make locally in Australia such as M&Ms, Maltesers, Skittles, Snickers, Extra and Eclipse.”

    • "…we are taking this opportunity to prioritise and invest in the brands and products we make locally in Australia such as M&Ms, Maltesers, Skittles, Snickers, Extra and Eclipse"

      I looked through their whole product catalogue and as far as new and exciting flavours/products go, it's pretty lackluster. Annoying how they can just lie to our faces about the real reasons why they make these decisions

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