South Africans react as ProNutro disappears after 64 years

South Africans have wasted little time reacting to the news that ProNutro has been discontinued after 64 years, with social media filled with anger, nostalgia, jokes and plenty of blame for the cereal’s controversial reformulation.

PepsiCo confirmed that ProNutro would be discontinued in South Africa after failing to recreate the taste and texture consumers associated with the original product.

The decision follows months of complaints about the New Generation ProNutro, particularly its taste, texture and mixability.

But judging by the reaction online, many consumers believe the company should never have changed the product in the first place.

‘If it ain’t broke, why try to fix it?’

That sentiment has dominated much of the reaction.

“Mess with a winning formula,” Ashley Bügler commented.

Firoze Bhorat was even more direct: “If it ain’t broke why try to fix it.”

Corne Roos Van Zyl asked: “Why couldn’t you just continue with the old recipe? It worked!”

Another consumer, Sabelo Nkwanyana, questioned why the recipe could not simply be sold to another company that would continue producing ProNutro.

And that frustration has been building for months.

Earlier this year, social-media users complained that the new version was nothing like the ProNutro they had grown up with.

One Reddit user described the new product as a “fake”, while another joked about the cereal being “FauxNutro”.

Another consumer said: “I wish these food companies would stop taking the South African consumer for a…” before comparing the situation with other well-known products whose recipes had changed.

‘Get ProNutro back!’

Not everyone was simply angry.

Some consumers are genuinely mourning the loss of a breakfast staple.

“Get ProNutro back on the shelves! Otherwise we’ll sleep forever!” Santie Nompi Croeser wrote.

Marieta McGrath had a rather different description of the reformulated version, calling it “the most expensive cement there is” – although she added that it was “good cement”.

Others admitted they had already moved on.

“I’ve never liked ProNutro,” Amelia Myburgh commented.

Astrid Verbeek pointed out that she had already said goodbye to ProNutro after school several decades ago.

Maryx Conradie revealed that she used to feed the cereal to her puppies and parrots and would now need to find an alternative.

And then there was the price.

Sharon Anne du Toit said ProNutro had become so expensive that she stopped buying it years ago, although she still insisted there was “nothing better than banana ProNutro and black coffee.”

South Africans had already started looking for alternatives

The earlier backlash also saw consumers discuss alternatives, with some saying they had switched to Weet-Bix or Futurelife after being disappointed by the reformulated ProNutro.

Others said they were prepared to pay more simply to get the original product back.

Some South Africans living abroad have also described ProNutro as one of the products they miss most from home, with one expat previously saying South Africans had even paid excess baggage costs to take it overseas.

Why was ProNutro changed?

PepsiCo previously explained that ageing production equipment had become unreliable, forcing changes to the manufacturing process.

The company introduced New Generation ProNutro earlier this year, saying it retained the cereal’s nutritional benefits while offering a more sustainable production process.

But consumers complained that the product no longer delivered the familiar ProNutro experience.

PepsiCo says it listened and investigated ways to bring back the original product.

It ultimately concluded that it could not recreate the taste and texture associated with the original cereal and decided to discontinue ProNutro altogether.

‘RIP ProNutro’

ProNutro first appeared in South Africa in 1962 and became a familiar part of breakfast tables across the country.

Now, after 64 years, consumers are saying goodbye.

And if the social-media reaction is anything to go by, many South Africans believe the biggest mistake was not discontinuing ProNutro now – but changing it in the first place.

For some, it’s simply the end of a cereal.

For others, it’s the end of banana ProNutro and black coffee, childhood breakfasts and a taste they believed would always be there.