Mars’ entire range of vegan chocolate bars has been delisted from Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, The Grocer can reveal.
The confectionery giant’s Galaxy Vegan, Bounty Vegan and Topic Vegan chocolates have all disappeared from the shelves of the three retailers over recent weeks.
Tesco, which previously stocked a trio of Galaxy Vegan chocolate bars in Caramel & Sea Salt, Caramelised Hazelnut and Smooth Orange flavours, confirmed it had delisted all three variants.
A spokeswoman for Sainsbury’s, which previously stocked Galaxy Vegan Smooth Orange and Crumbled Cookie Bar, along with Topic Vegan and Bounty Vegan, said: “We regularly review our ranges and this will be based on a range of factors.”
Galaxy Vegan Smooth Orange, Topic Vegan and Bounty Vegan were still being sold at a discounted price on Morrisons’ website as The Grocer went to press, but a spokeswoman for Morrisons said the range had been delisted as it did “not meet the criteria of either our health & wellbeing category or our free-from one”.
It is understood the supermarket was at loggerheads with Mars over its proposal to shift the chocolates from its free-from fixture into core confectionery.
The delistings sparked confusion among shoppers, with many complaining on social media they could no longer find the bars.
A Mars spokeswoman said Galaxy Vegan “has been enormously successful since launch and has surpassed our high pre-launch expectations”.
“We’re proud that our vegan portfolio has significantly boosted category growth for our customers and of the fact that we currently have the top two performing SKUs,” she added.
“Our vegan treats are widely available nationwide in places like Co-op, Asda and Boots, and online on Amazon.”
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