Kiwi icons kicked off shelves to make way for US chips

CC's and Aztec corn chips have been replaced on NZ supermarket shelves by a locally made version of the American brand Doritos. Photos / NZ Herald

CC's and Aztec corn chips have been cut from supermarket shelves in New Zealand and have been replaced by a locally made version of the American brand Doritos.

Bluebird Foods, which makes the chips, is understood to have conducted blind taste tests in which Doritos proved more popular.

The company denies the move is to cut costs. Bluebird Party corn chips have also been discontinued.

All three brands are being removed from shelves and an advertising campaign to announce Doritos has begun.

A long-time customer, who did not wish to be named, expressed anger over the changes.

"I, like many Kiwis, grew up with CC's and Aztecs, and to this day they remain my favourite snack food. Kiwis wouldn't sit quiet if L&P were replaced by some inferior substitute, so why should we be forced to give up the chips we grew up with?

"If nobody speaks up now, what will we do when Marmite, pavlova or Watties' sauces are replaced with their American alternatives?"

When asked if the company had anything to say to customers who were upset by the decision to discontinue the chips, a Bluebird spokesman said: "Not on the record, no."

Senior brand strategist Wayne Attwell, of marketing firm Bold Horizon, said replacing three chip brands with a new one would have been done after much consultation.

"In the States, everybody knows Doritos ... The risk is, of course, that you do lose some followers, but on the upside - because it's a better known brand - you may pick up more."

Mr Attwell suspected the "economies of scale" surrounding making corn chips in New Zealand would have made it difficult to produce three different brands.