"This is Sad Guys": ProNutro Discontinued in South Africa After 64 Years on Store Shelves

• PepsiCo officially discontinued ProNutro in South Africa, ending the cereal brand's 64-year presence on store shelves
• The decision followed a massive consumer backlash over a new recipe that shoppers said tasted wrong and had a strange texture
• PepsiCo admitted it could not recreate the original taste and texture that South Africans had grown up with

South Africa's beloved breakfast staple ProNutro has been officially retired. PepsiCo, the company that owns the brand, confirmed the discontinuation is immediate, bringing the curtain down on a cereal that first appeared on South African shelves in 1962.

The end came after a turbulent year for the brand. In April 2026, shoppers began noticing a reformulated version on supermarket shelves. The new "New Generation" recipe triggered a wave of complaints across social media, with consumers saying the texture was off, the taste was unrecognisable and the powder no longer mixed properly.

PepsiCo's apology and failed fix

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PepsiCo issued a public apology and acknowledged the outcry. The company explained that the recipe change was driven by the need to retire ageing production machinery that had become unreliable and risked compromising product quality over time. Replacing the old equipment meant replicating the original formula exactly was no longer possible.

According to a report, the group said it explored every option to bring back the classic version consumers loved.

"We listened and explored options to bring back the original product experience, but we were unable to recreate the taste and texture consumers associated with the original ProNutro," PepsiCo stated. After a prolonged internal review, the decision was made to pull the product entirely rather than continue selling a version South Africans had already rejected.

64 years of breakfast history gone

ProNutro holds a remarkable place in South African food history. It was developed by the South African Institute for Medical Research to address widespread protein deficiency and malnutrition, launching in 1962. It went on to become recognised as the world's first nutraceutical cereal, delivering plant-based protein, energy, 13 vitamins and four minerals in every serving.

Over the decades, the brand grew its range to include chocolate, banana, strawberry and original flavours. Some earlier varieties, including wholewheat honey melt and the honey flavour, had already been phased out before the cereal's final discontinuation.

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TikToker @coolstorybru summed up how many South Africans felt in a direct-to-camera video:

"This was my favourite cereal growing up and I don't know how we going to recover from this."

Watch CoolStoryBru's reaction to the ProNutro news here.

More on food and groceries in South Africa

• Briefly News recently reported on a woman who shared her grocery haul from a supermarket's R20 special, spending just over R668 in total.
• A self-described stockpiler unpacked her grocery haul from a major sale, saving over a thousand rand in the process.
• An ANC mayor was filmed cooking food during a door-to-door campaign in North West, and South Africans had a lot to say about the tactic.

Source: Briefly News