Seven lost biscuits you loved: 90s lunchboxes, 70s classics and 600 pleas to bring them back

Your tea break has a hole in it. School-day favourites and coffee companions are vanishing, leaving tins echoing with memories.

Across Britain, shoppers report gaps where certain biscuits once sat. A new petition asks makers to revive a fan favourite. Here are seven names people still ask about, and why they slipped from view.

Why the biscuit aisle is changing

Range cuts in supermarkets squeeze slower sellers first. Manufacturing costs rise, so marginal lines lose out. Corporate takeovers shuffle factories and portfolios. New health rules curb promotions on sugary snacks, altering demand. Nostalgia surges online, but that alone rarely pays for a production line.

Four favourites are gone, two are hard to find, and one survives in pockets if you look carefully.

The seven you keep asking about

Cartoonies

Fans remember a crisp shell stamped with changing characters and a soft chocolate centre. The bite felt playful, then indulgent. The brand sat under Burton’s Biscuits. After a major ownership change in 2013, Britons saw fewer packs. Limited runs surfaced abroad, which stoked rumours of a comeback. Shoppers still scour discount chains and continental aisles, usually without luck.

“Best biscuits ever,” say devotees who grew up in the 90s and noughties.

Garibaldis

A thin, perforated strip with raisins baked into a chewy layer, ready to snap. The nickname “squashed fly” did not help its image with children. Older readers swear by it with strong tea. The format still exists in some ranges, often from smaller bakers. Large supermarkets stock it sporadically, typically on lower shelves, and mainly in value lines.

Penguin Flipper Dippers

McVitie’s pitched this as fun snacking for kids. Chocolate-flavoured biscuits met two dips, one vanilla and one chocolate. The pack turned a break into a small ritual. After an early 2000s splash, sales softened. The line vanished quietly as retailers trimmed novelty snacks. Lunchbox loyalists still recall finding a pack beside a sandwich and a juice carton.

Bisc& bars

A hybrid half-biscuit, half-chocolate bar range arrived in 2003. It borrowed names most people know: Mars, Twix, Bounty and M&Ms. The promise was texture contrast without a full-sized bar. It never found a stable audience. By 2006 the range ended, despite heavy brand recognition. Collectors trade empty wrappers as curios from a brief experiment in confectionery crossovers.

Echo bar

Fox’s launched Echo in 2000 to sit near KitKat and Twix. A bubbly white chocolate finger rested on a biscuit base under a milk chocolate coat. The texture shifted from crisp to aerated sweetness in one bite. Production ceased around 2012 after years of thinning distribution. A recent petition passed 600 signatures. The company has said there are no plans to restart the line.

Gypsy creams

Two crisp, buttery biscuits sandwiched with buttercream defined this 1970s staple. McVitie’s made a version many households bought with the weekly shop. The product left shelves in 2005. Home bakers share recipes for close matches, often with oats for bite. In other markets, similar sandwiches used chocolate and coconut, which shows how formats travel while names change.

Cafe Noir

A coffee-lover’s treat topped with glossy coffee icing. The biscuit underneath is firm and aromatic. Social media rumours said it had been axed. Stocks turned patchy and then rare. Some wholesalers still list it, and small shops sometimes carry short-dated boxes. Fans tend to buy in twos, then guard the stash until the next sighting.

At a glance: what happened to the seven

What is driving the disappearances

Retailers prune long ranges to cut costs and speed restocking. Heritage lines sell slowly across most stores, even if they sell strongly in a few. When ownership changes, factories are retooled to favour high-volume classics. Sugar and cocoa prices have surged since 2020, pushing marginal products into the red. Packaging rules and labelling updates also add cost to niche items.

Nostalgia sells online, but manufacturing needs consistent, national demand and reliable margins.

How you can still get a taste

• Check independent grocers, cash-and-carry outlets and discount chains for one-off deliveries.
• Watch for supermarket “heritage week” promotions that rotate in older styles.
• Bake your own versions; sandwich biscuits are straightforward with a handheld mixer.
• Swap tips with local community groups; regional stock patterns vary widely.
• Request products directly from brand customer services; logged interest can guide range reviews.

Petitions, revivals and the business reality

Petitions signal demand and generate headlines. Brands watch the numbers and the tone. A few hundred names show enthusiasm, not certainty. To spark a trial run, companies look for thousands of potential buyers and retailer support. Limited editions are more likely than full relaunches. That reduces risk and tests whether nostalgia turns into repeat sales.

Home recreations that actually work

Start with a basic butter biscuit dough and tweak texture with oats or cornflour. For a “cream” centre, beat unsalted butter with icing sugar and a pinch of salt. Add cocoa for chocolate sandwiches. For coffee icing, dissolve instant espresso in a teaspoon of boiling water and mix into icing sugar until glossy. Let iced biscuits dry on a rack to set the glaze.

A final word for tea-time traditionalists

If you miss raisins in a crisp sheet, slice a thin layer of sultanas into a shortbread and roll flat before baking. If you crave bubbly chocolate over crunch, aerated bars paired with rich digestives get close. Keep an eye on seasonal aisles and warehouse clubs. Stock turns fast, and the next lost favourite may slip back, briefly, for those who move quickly.