ProNutro has pledged to tweak its new recipe after consumers threatened to boycott the popular breakfast cereal. The South African go-to product, manufactured by PepsiCo and part of the Bokomo range, has come under fire over its new taste, texture and smell. The company has claimed that it will not revert to the original product.
PRONUTRO VOWS TO TWEEK NEW FORMULA AMID CONSUMER BACKLASH In a Facebook post on its official account, ProNutro apologised to South Africans for changing its fan-favourite formula. It shared: “Change isn’t easy, especially when it involves something you love. The change on ProNutro has been challenging, and we understand the disappointment it’s caused.
While the fundamental texture won’t change back, we are working on improving the mixability for a better experience. The cereal brand revealed that it would temporarily halt production to fix its formula. It continued: “You may not see us on the shelf for a little while as we focus on these improvements, and this time, we promise to keep you updated along the way.
“Thank you for sharing, for caring, and for giving us the chance to do better. We’re listening”. In the comments section, consumers were unimpressed and threatened to boycott the brand altogether.
Antonie Ras: “Bring back the OLD Pronutro! Or go broke”. Lisa Somerville: “Bring back the original recipe or don’t bother at all!” Jeanine du Toit: “‘Can’t bring the old one back”…..goodbye Pronutro, it was fun!” Jonathan Spencer: “If it’s not the original recipe and same texture and taste, I will not be purchasing.
You will lose a lot of loyal customers” Themi Nasis: “Ya ne…. moral of the story…. don’t try to reinvent the wheel”. WHY WAS IT CHANGED IN THE FIRST PLACE? According to PepsiCo, it began a scheduled rollout of the new ProNutro products earlier this month.
The South African breakfast cereal was developed by doctors in 1962 to combat malnutrition in the country. The formula of the “new generation” cereal is made with reduced sugar and a new texture. PepsiCo said in a statement: “Our decision to launch a new generation was not an easy decision.
It was done in part due to ageing infrastructure and unreliable equipment performance, which, over time, would have negatively impacted the quality of the product expected by our consumers.” The manufacturers – who claim that ProNutro still offers the “13 vitamins and four minerals” – and its new formula underwent “substantial national consumer testing”. They added that the new packaging explicitly communicated the change in formula.