Why Arnott’s stopped making their iconic Honey Snap biscuits

We reveal why Arnott’s stopped making them.

Rebecca Nittolo

2 min read

June 12, 2024 - 9:44AM

Arnott's Honey Snaps

Food

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When an iconic biscuit is discontinued, Australia takes it hard. We remember that day back in 2021, when Arnott’s Lattice biscuits disappeared off supermarket shelves. Our food editors were so devastated, they promptly bought up all other Arnott’s crackers to see if they could hack them into Lattice imitations.

But there’s one biscuit that disappeared long before the Lattice – decades ago, in fact. But hundreds of people are STILL demanding to know where the best bikkie from their childhood had gone.

We’re talking about Honey Snaps.

Honey Snaps memories

Judging by the multiple Facebook polls we’ve done about discontinued food products, it seems a LOT of Aussies miss Honey Snaps and have very happy associations with the thin honey-sweetened biscuit. When we approached our friends at Arnott’s to explain the disappearance of this much-loved biscuit, even they had their own fond recollections of it.

Their culinary chef Vanessa Horton said: “I have lovely memories of my grandmother making a Honey Snap log for all our celebrations… dipping the biscuits in sherry for added yum!”

Ditto, Vanessa.

Honey Snaps: the story

It’s been so long since Honey Snaps were on supermarket shelves that we struggled to find evidence of their existence on the comparatively “new” internet, but Vanessa says: “They certainly did exist. They were originally produced at our Homebush site which is actually the site of the Arnotts head office today, but ended up being baked at our Marleston Bakery in SA. They were retired in 1998.”

What did Arnott’s Honey Snap biscuits taste like?

Vanessa says: “They were a very thin, delicate biscuit, dark in colour. When you bit into them they had a really nice honey flavour to them. I believe they also contained coconut, but it was the honey flavour and texture that everyone seems to remember.”

I’ve spoken to some Aussies who remember dunking them in tea (they often disintegrated), while others loved them in their lunchbox. Some only ever had them at their grandparents’ house.

Which current Arnott’s biscuit are they most like?

Vanessa says that the closest biscuit is probably the Queensland version of the Ginger Nut (yes, there are different Ginger Nuts for each state, but that’s another story) because they’re both circular, dark-coloured biscuits. However, she adds that Honey Snaps were “thinner so that the texture was more delicate”. From a flavour perspective, she likens them most to the YoYo (sadly only available in SA) because it’s also sweetened with honey, but Vanessa says they’re also a “completely different biscuit”.

So in short, Honey Snaps are irreplaceable (sob!)

Are Arnott’s Honey Snaps returning?

The experts at Arnott’s are always listening to what their biscuit-loving customers want, but unfortunately it doesn’t look like you’ll see Honey Snaps back on supermarket shelves anytime soon. Vanessa reveals: “The Honey Snap was actually a bit tricky to manufacture… that is what led to it being retired.”

Describing them as “a real labour of love to produce”, Vanessa adds: “To start, due to the nature of the raw mixture the band they were cooked on had to be covered in semolina and continually greased to prevent sticking. Being a sugar cookie, [they] had to sit for five minutes after they were baked before they could be moved (a bit like a Florentine has to cool). So baking them was a slow, labour-intensive process. Over time, as the bakeries grew more efficient and demand for other biscuits increased, we needed more baking lines to keep up. That led to the difficult decision to retire them.”

Although it has a sad ending, we love a good biscuit story!