Unilever kills the iconic Breyers Ice Cream brand!

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I used to LOVE Breyers ALL NATURAL Ice Cream...

For around a century it was one of the only easily obtainable super market bought mass market ice cream that was indeed
ALL NATURAL, with most flavors using only milk, cream, sugar, and and natural flavor, like real Chocolate, or real fruit.

Over the past year or so, Unilever which bought out the Philadelphia based company has started calling most of the flavors a "FROZEN DESSERT" but they certainly didn't let the consumer know publicly about this "change" .

I used to buy their cherry vanilla, and peach ice cream and it was simply fantastic for the price and it was ALL NATURAL with just fresh peaches or REAL fresh bing cherries added to the all natural ice cream.

Well to my surprise when I started to eat a portion out of a newer container of Cherry Vanilla and noticed IMMEDIATELY how strange the ice cream tasted, it had an odd texture, and it didn't seem firm, or even cold in my mouth even though it looked firm to the eye....At first I thought it might have melted at some point and then been refrozen at the store. But even the cherries tasted artificial like fake cough syrup....I glanced at the label just to check and lo and behold the ingredients were VERY different from the natural ice cream I expected , now added were all kinds of artificial ingredients and the all natural label was missing from the carton, and it was replaced with the title "Quality" and "Frozen Dessert" LOL....

I took the carton back to the store and told them I wanted my money back because this was not the product I expected to receive.

I wrote Breyer's and told them of my experience, they CLAIMED that they did a study that consumers "preferred" the new formula frozen dessert because it had a smoother texture....
That is bunk...the executives preferred it because they could squeeze out a little more profit, and the stuff would have a long shelf life. They went on to state that they still made a few flavors in the all natural recipe version, but even those had whey and tara gum added!

It appears that I am certainly not the only Breyers customer that noticed this HORRIBLE change. I have found almost a hundred or more consumers posting about the repulsive taste of the "new and improved" product. And usually 100 posts on the net equal tens of thousands of customers that never post a complaint.

So it appears that Unilever has killed off an iconic, quality brand that served up premium all natural ice cream for more than a century so that greedy, short sighted executive MANGLEMENT could skim a few more dollars off the company for themselves and their greedy shareholders.

No, more Breyers for me.
 
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Shame!
I don't eat ice cream so I had no idea it was the only brand that offered natural ice cream, but that falls under your very large lumping of "They don't build stuff like they used to" including ice cream apparently.
 
Oh man! That was a treat when I was little, Breyer's ice cream. Makes me want to go to the grocery store, get some milk, whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla, and fire up my ice cream maker.
 
My favorite ice cream is Byrne dairy stuff, from Syracuse. And Stewart's from Saratoga. I wad never a huge breyers fan myself bit this is kind of disappointing.
 
Another thing Breyers and many other brands are doing to rip you off is to whip more air into the product. They sell it to you by volume, not weight, so the labeling is still technically correct, but you are paying for a lot of air.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick R
My favorite ice cream is Byrne dairy stuff, from Syracuse. And Stewart's from Saratoga. I wad never a huge breyers fan myself bit this is kind of disappointing.


Stewarts has the BEST ice cream flavors! I think Star Gazer is my favorite.

They also have awesome shakes and iced coffee.

I've lived in syracuse >2 years ... have not had Byrne dairy ice cream yet
 
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I always loved Breyers natural vanilla. Milk, cream, sugar and black vanilla specks were about all that was in there.

I was curious about breyers, as I recell seeing a few large, old fashioned metal breyers signs in NJ when going along the turnpike, and they arent there anymore.

I havent bought any in a long while, so dont know about the recipe, but that's sad.

Are you saying the brand name is killed, or is it just that theyve killed the recipes in place of the (cheaper) chemistry-based stuff?

My wife made a huge batch of homemade strawberry ice cream, and we hardly ever eat the stuff anyway, so I guess were good for a while!
 
Originally Posted By: Tempest
Vote with your wallet. Could this be the new New Coke?


The difference is that the Coca Cola Company actually informed customers that New Coke would be a new taste BEFORE they actually introduced the product.

Of course the new taste sucked royally and no one wanted it, and thankfully the CCC was smart enough to drop the new formula and bring back the old almost immediately. The one thing they did do that was sneaky was to use HFC instead of real cane sugar from then on even with the return of the original formula.

Unilever was trying to SNEAK this move past consumers by not mentioning the change at all publicly when it was initially done.

I have done some research on Unilever and found that when they take over a business they like to cheapen the product and raise the price at about the same time. Typical corporate borg mentality. I'll make sure to NOT BUY ANYTHING that is made by by Unilever again.

Of course Unilever closed the Breyers plant that had been in
Philly for just about ever and put over 250 people out of a job. I think the old Mayor was willing to do just about anything to keep the historic plant operating but Unilever refused to even discuss the issue, claiming that nothing could be done to make it viable for future use. LOL

[censored] OFF Unilever!
whistle.gif
 
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This change happened a long time ago, where have you been? It still is better than 99% of the other brands out there, and it is neither "horrible" nor "repulsive". Your theatrics are amusing though. The company cites distribution difficulties and no doubt that was a problem.

I agree it would have been better without the added gums and thickeners. We are just going to have to make our own.
 
And I remember when a half gallon of ice cream was not 48 oz. and a pound of coffee was not 12 oz.

I miss the real Breyer's also.
 
I like to ask a small favor from folks please go to the Breyers website and send them an e mail under contact us, and explain why you will not be buying their product anymore.


I doubt it will get them to reverse course but it doesn't hurt to try.


There should be no artificial ingredients, whey, or tara gum in any of the ice cream.
 
never much cared for the 'rough' texture of Breyer's, but I don't care for the current crop of 'frozen desserts' on the market either.
there are plenty of other choices out there for 'natural' ice cream, Turkey Hill is popular around here.
 
Hello, Turkey Hill, Stewart's, Friendly's, all the designer brands IN CITIES AND WEALTHIER SUBURBS, store brands...all mean super competition. When marketing, placement (grocer's shelves) and packaging Breyer's "old" leaf vs. anything newer looking is all added up, you get winners and losers in the market place. Now your magic ingredients come into the game. Ice cream is one product which can be made en masse. There are huge freezing companies which keep foodstuffs in abundant supply. Ever wonder where all those Thanksgiving turkeys come from all at once? A successful ice cream can become even more successful. Something holding up the rear can fall behind or away. Sad. Kira
 
I never found the texture of Breyers to be "rough" but natural, the way it would be if you made your own ice cream and then stored it in the freezer. If you like it a bit smoother you simply take it out and get a portion and let it thaw for a minute or so, it will take on a smoother feel.

I used to live in West Chester, PA and we had a few Turkey Hill
mini mart near by...But never cared for their regular brand of ice cream. I liked their Iced Tea though ( the regular, not sweet tea, which I hate. LOL).

Now they have a new version which is all natural and it is called "Philadephia Style" with a black label. They do have a Cherry Vanilla which is identical to the original Breyers but unfortunately where I am here in SC, the stores do not carry it.

@Kira:

I have noticed that since Breyers has "deflowered" and polluted their ALL NATURAL ICE CREAM the FROZEN DESSERT flavors seem to never be moving off the shelf, while the original ALL NATURAL FLAVORS that remain still seem to sell quite well. It is VERY noticeable on the shelves..Obviously the consumer is paying attention, Breyers better too. They need to go back to the ORIGINAL RECIPE without any artificial ingredients or additives and remove the tara gum and whey filler as well.
 
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LOL...that stinks though...we all have our favorite brand and it is disappointing when it changes for the worse.

Do you ever make your own? Its really simple...there are lots of reliable, easy to use ice cream makers on the market now. You can get one that uses ice and salt, or one that uses the cooling liquid. I have both. I'm kind an ice cream addict. You can pick your own ingredients (high grade or quick and cheap) and play around with recipes. Fun for the family too...

Talking about this is making me want to go make some.
 
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