Arnott's Treatles are available throughout New Zealand at New World and Pak'nSave stores from October.
Arnott's Treatles are available throughout New Zealand at New World and Pak'nSave stores from October.
In 2021, Kiwi confectionery lovers were left reeling when Mars New Zealand discontinued the sale of the delectable Pods range.
For three years, chocolate lovers faced the hassle of importing their Pods from overseas or paying exorbitant prices when stores shipped them in. But now there is a new product that has been labelled by some as “next-gen Pods”.
Arnott’s NZ has launched a new product called Treatles, a biscuit-like snack with a chocolate coating, a crispy light wafer filled with a soft cream centre.
They come in three flavours including Double Chocolate, Neapolitan and Mint, with Arnott’s describing it as a “game-changing” bite-sized treat.
Keryn Bloor, head of NZ Arnott’s group marketing, said they hope Treatles will “shake up” New Zealand’s biscuit aisles and Kiwi’s taste buds.
Arnott's Treatles are available in Neapolitan, Mint and Double Chocolate flavours.
“Kiwis love a great bikkie and also to indulge in choccie treats. It was only fitting New Zealand’s most trusted biscuit brand launch a product that blended the two in a brand-new, completely unique way, which will shake up the biscuit aisle.
She added that “Kiwis will no longer need to decide between bikkie and choccie” when deciding what they want in a sweet treat.
Australians have weighed in on the treat following its release across the ditch, with popular food reviewer Russ Eats claiming they’re “unique as f***, I haven’t had anything like that”.
“This is some next-gen s***. Finally some innovation ... you get this hardaerated biscuit that dissolves instantly in your mouth, but then you’re left with the chocolate and the flavouring from the centre. It’s like a hard sweet cruskit biscuit which works.”
Food reviewer Russ Eats described the new treat as innovative.
Other chocolate lovers also commented on the Treatles, with one claiming they’re “similar to the Pods that were yummy” while one Kiwi biscuit fan said the Neapolitan flavour “slaps but the double chocolate was mid”.
However, not everyone was sold on the new treat.
One Kiwi labelled it as poor as “advent calendar chocolate” and others scoffed at the $6 price tag claiming they weren’t worth the price.
Treatles are on sale at New World and Pak’nSave in the South Island currently, while North Island chocolate lovers can get their hands on the product in October.
Favourite Kiwi snacks discontinued
The introduction of the Treatle comes after the extinction of a number of favourite classic snack items.
Just this year Cadbury announced the famous Chocolate Fish was coming to an end and would no longer be distributed.
Cadbury says it made the decision last year to end production of it's beloved Chocolate Fish. Photo / Woolworths. Illustration / NZ Herald
“The decision to end their run was made last year, and stock has been depleting since,” Cadbury spokesperson Craig Dowling told the Herald, citing a lack of demand as a reason behind the move.
“They just haven’t been as popular with Kiwi consumers over recent years as they had been in the past,” Dowling said. “Ironically it is not a case of overfishing that led to the demise of the bigger member of the species, but the opposite.”
Dowling said Cadbury “loved the love shown for this iconic product”, and says it’s proud the product has become embedded in the Kiwi lexicon.
“There are still a lot of Kiwis who love nostalgia, and we acknowledge and respect that,” he told the Herald. “In a way, Chocolate Fish are linked to good memories of treats from our past. I understand that can lead to feelings of loss.”
Whittaker's Toffee Milks are being discontinued with the company saying other products are outcompeting the Kiwi classic.
In March 2024, Whittaker’s also made the difficult decision that its classic Toffee Milk bars were being discontinued.
“Unfortunately, production constraints have meant we’ve been unable to consistently make Toffee Milks for some time now, as the popularity of some of our chocolate block variants compete with Toffee Milk production.”
Three years ago, Pods was also discontinued in New Zealand, with Mars New Zealand general manager Peter Simmons at the time saying they had to “make the difficult decision” due to changes in their manufacturing capability.
Pods were discontinued in 2021, but some dairies and confectionery stores import the Kiwi favourite.
“We don’t make these decisions lightly, and when we do, we always try to balance the expectations of our customers with the needs of our business. We recognise some will be disappointed by this change, and we hope it’s not long before they find a new favourite treat from the Mars line-up.”
Outraged Kiwis quickly took to social media to mourn the classic treat. One shared on Reddit that he had contacted the company, who responded telling him, “This product is not being manufactured and is no longer available.”
