Popular food and drinks from our childhood that have discontinued

Food memories are often the most fond memories that are etched to our hearts forever. Do you remember your favourite candy, sweet, chips or cola which you once enjoyed, but have now disappeared from the market?

Most of us have nostalgic memories of Campa Cola, Chiclets, Jumpin, Gold spot, Phantom cigarettes and what not! But have you ever thought, how these much-loved food products vanished into thin air.

Every time a product is pulled out of the market, brands pacify the loss by blaming the sales, scarcity of ingredients, health and environmental concerns, but what about the consumer sentiment?

Well, that's a never-ending debate, but the least we can do to revive the taste that our palates miss is reminiscing the love for popular foods that have so many unforgettable memories and are now discontinued.

One of the oldest products of Godrej, this tetra pack mango drink was a huge hit among kids and adults for its enticing taste. However, with new entrants in the segment, the brand wasn’t performing very well and was sold only in the Northern and Western parts of India. Thus, the product was discontinued from several markets. After many years, the parent company decided to revive the brand and joined hands with Hershey and added many new flavours.

Image courtesy: Social media

Parle’s Gold Spot was one of the most popular Indian soft drinks back in the 80’s. Around 1993 the brand needed a repositioning and to do so the brand added a zing factor to the drink by adding a fizzy twist. Gold Spot was popular for its refreshing orange flavour, but the brand was discontinued when the conglomerate Coca-Cola bought the rights of operation along with other soft drinks like Limca, Thumbs up.

Rola Cola was a hit among kids back in the late 80’-90’s. In just Rs 2, this cola candy satiated the cravings for chilled aerated cola drink. However, this cola candy was discontinued in the Indian market, due to sluggish sales. Interestingly, as per a news report published in a digital daily, the brand decided to relaunch Rola Cola after a social media movement #BringBackRolaCola. Parle relaunched the cola candy after almost 13 years of discontinuation.

These colourful chewing gums made our day with their vibrant colours, back then. But over the years there have been many entrants in the confection market who changed the dynamics and eventually the product was discontinued from several parts of the world. Later, in 2019 this product was again revived due to its high demand, but this time the production was done in Mexico.

As kids, boasting a candy cigarette was a big thing! But you will be surprised to know that these candy cigarettes were made with 80 percent of sugar and gelatin that affected health in the long run. Despite their quirky packaging and delicious taste, these candies were pulled out of the physical market after a hue and cry around health concerns. However, these are still available online in some parts of the country.

Image courtesy: Instagram/singhparthavee

Remember making balloons of our chewing gums, Big Babool was the brand that made us fall in love with the strawberry flavour chewing gums and taught us the art of making gum balloons. The product was widely available in the Indian market, but with better counterparts available the sales declined. Thus, the product was pulled out from several parts of the country. Now the product is rarely available in selected markets.

The eye-catching Blue Pepsi was launched with an expectation to stir up the soft drink market, but the response wasn't that good. The sluggish sales compelled the brand to pull out the product from the market. BUt fans still miss the unique taste and colour of this drink.