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PG Tips brand owner Lipton Teas & Infusions had changed the way the tea granules are produced

PG Tips has discontinued its instant tea granules after changes to manufacturing negatively affected their taste.

“Following changes at a manufacturing level, our Pure Tea Granules, which account for less than 1% of our total portfolio, no longer hit the high taste standards our consumers know and love,” said Liam McNamara, UK&I general manager at PG Tips brand owner Lipton Teas & Infusions.

As a result, the product had been temporarily pulled as PG Tips took “some time out to review our options”, McNamara added.

The brand did not share further details of the changes to manufacturing.

The news comes after shoppers have used Twitter over recent days to complain that PG Tips granules have disappeared from supermarket shelves.

The brand also drew the ire of shoppers at the beginning of the year, when fans took to social media to complain that its newly biodegradable pyramid teabags broke apart too easily.

In a customer service message, the brand said it was “working extremely hard to fix the problems” with the biodegradable bags, having made “huge improvements at our factory in Manchester”.

Value sales of PG Tips fell by 8.6% to £80.3m, on volumes down 7.6%, in the 52 weeks ending 10 September 2022 [NIQ].