Crisp rice old FOP

Source: Aldi

Harvest Morn Crisp Rice’s cartoon mascot, one of the last remaining on Aldi’s own-brand cereals, will be phased out by March

Aldi has become the third supermarket to commit to banishing cartoon characters from own-brand breakfast cereals to tackle ‘pester power’ on parents.

The discounter said today that the characters had already been removed from much of the range and would be gone from the rest by March.

It follows similar announcements from Lidl and Asda.

“Our customers want a simple shopping experience, and that includes making it easy for them to make healthier choices,” said Fritz Walleczek, Aldi UK & Ireland MD of corporate responsibility.

“That means working hard to reduce sugar content where we can, without damaging our customers’ enjoyment of our products, but it also includes making it easier for parents to make healthy choices for their children.

“We recognise that pester power can sometimes make this difficult in the aisles and so began removing cartoon characters last year. Completing that process and waving goodbye to the last of those characters is one more step we are happy to take to support our customers.”

Crisp rice new FOP

Source: Aldi

The new Harvest Morn Crisp Rice packaging

Cereals to have already lost the characters included Harvest Morn Frosted Flakes and Harvest Morn Choco Pillows, Aldi said. The last would now be removed from Harvest Morn Crisp Rice and Harvest Morn Choco Rice.

The supermarket had also cut sugar in its breakfast cereals by up to 25% over the past two years, a spokesman said.