Years ago a reporter asked me to name some supermarket foods I wouldn’t be embarrassed to serve to
company.
Frozen Dairy Dessert
Breyers Viennetta was one of my answers. Each flavor contained attractively layered folds of ice cream and crisp dark chocolate. It was elegant, convenient and tasty.
This week, a publicist approached me with the exciting news that Unilever is bringing Viennetta back for the holidays. She wrote,
“With a suggested retail price under $3.00, this frozen dessert cake of soft, rippling vanilla or chocolatey waves and crackling chocolatey layers allows hostesses to present a casually elegant dessert that won’t break the bank.”
Wow, I thought, this Viennetta is less expensive than the previous version. Not!
The original 15-ounce version was made with yummy Breyers Ice Cream; this 12-ounce one is a frozen dairy dessert, available until February 2009. That means instead of ice cream, this Viennetta consists of — nonfat milk, sugars, whey, cocoa, propylene glycol monoesters, cellulose gels, mono and diglycerides, locust bean gum, polysorbate 80, guar gum, natural flavor and carrageenan.
I would never think of serving this chemical version of Viennetta. But — in hopes that the folks from Unilever are reading this — I’ll ask, how about bringing the Breyers ice cream version back?
I have been looking for Viennetta too in Simcoe County,ON.Please let me know if it is available in Canada
OMG! Please bring back Vienetta. I would be willing to pay whatever it is that they weere charging. It is simply delicious! Come on Breyers! PLEASE!!!!!!!
What about California?
The People want the original product….listen and act.
Give Us Vienetta, or give us nothing else!!
easy solution for me. i’m just going to boycott all of breyers products until they bring back vienetta. it’s that simple folks, obviously breyers does not care enough about their consumers to bring them the quality products they request and deserve. instead they replace is with a crappy imitation or simply take it away completely.
clearly the comments here represent only a fraction of the people that want vienetta back. with such a high demand, to not provide the product is just a slap in the face to the consumer.
if you don’t want to please your customers and clearly don’t care about our requests, then i will no longer be buying your products.
breyers isn’t the best ice cream to be begin with, and a unique and delicious product like vienetta really gave them something special. but since the company doesn’t mind settling for less than the best, i won’t be supporting them.
I wonder if Breyers/Unilver really sees these comments. I think we should send this link and all the comments here on this blog to Unilever. They own Bryers now. They are not listening to us! They are selling Vienetta to their European customers. Unilever is a European co. located in Rotterdam. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=UN+Profile
Unilever can be contacted here via their contact form. Let’s all do it!!
http://www.unilever.com/resource/Contactform/index.aspx
They should wake up to the opportunity in the US, Canada, and the rest of the world :)))
Bring back vienetta !!!
I LOVE VIENETTA. IT IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT CHILDHOOD MEMORY. I WOULD LOVE TO SHARE IT WITH MY SON. I LIVE IN MISSISSIPPI AND WE ALL WANT IT TO COME BACK. PLEASE WE LOVE IT
My husband wanted to buy a Vienetta today but couldn’t find one…now I see why. Bring back Vienetta, NOT the cheap crappy one….but the good one.
And I agree, raise the price. We will always pay more for good quality.
My Kids and I would love some for the hoildays. Its the best tasting desert you can buy. What the hell is wrong with unilever.
Well, I understand that companies discontinue products that aren’t profitable. I wonder why it would be viable in the UK but not the US, though, since it’s still sold there. Viennetta was my family’s traditional Christmas Eve dessert for as long as I can remember. Unilever stopped distributing it here the same year my mother died. I get a pang again every Christmas hoping I’ll see it in the stores and be able to bring back some of those memories of her. I’ll be hoping again this year, but it doesn’t look promising.
I have my friend in from TX. & she just asked where was his special dessert? My husband used to make his special dessert with Vienetta. he would take mini cinnamon eggos and place a slice of Vienetta in the middle. The how waffles & ice cream ala Vienetta!
It’s a tough one huh? I remember the product as a Food Broker Rep in the early 90’s selling it …. Good stuff. But so was blue Nehi .. So things change. Back the then Gas was a 1.40 a gallon.. Such a nice product indeed. The economy won’t allow Unilever to offer this package for a good while if ever again IMO
Raising the price for the select few that can or choose to afford it is not sound marketing especially in an industry that requires $$$$ to even be on the sales floor before you have even sold a package to the public.
WHERE CAN I FIND YOU??? I AM IN STOCKTON, CA HELP!!
I was living in Ireland from April 2011 to Oct. 2011 and had Viennetta ice cream all the time. I bought it at a store called Tesco, but they don’t ship to the US.
Years ago I remember buying it at Albertson’s in Beaverton OR, but haven’t seen it for a long time.
Annie, thanks for the tip! I live in Portland, Oregon and read on another site that sometimes Grocery Outlet carries it as well. I am going to see if I can find it – even though I understand that it is not the original formulation (packed with chemicals now, not real ice cream). I remember seeing it in the grocery store in the 80s. It was SO fancy to me and I begged my mom to buy it. She only caved one time (it was “too expensive”) and we devoured it!
I used to buy Viennetta at Winn Dixie in Quincy, FL. They have not carried it for years. I kept one in the freezer all the time. I would buy it again. I now have a 4 year old son, that I would love to be able to share it with. I was 47 when he was born, just think, it is a shame, that this child will never know what Heaven in your Mouth tastes like. Yes, just think, There are so many Wal-Marts that would carry the product in the US now. There is no way you couldn’t make a mint by distributing it in the US now. JUST TRY IT! If it doesn’t sell well enough to suit you, you can always discontinue it again, but let me know before you do, and I will go buy out every bit I can find. PLEASE BRING IT BACK!
My daughter and I share fond memories of Vienetta. I need a recipe if it will never be seen again. It was the best dessert treat ever.
Well HAPPY VALENTINESDAY! Everyone! Sorry, no VIENETTA yet again! It would be nice, if someone could get a recipe. I do realize it wouldn’t be like “REAL THING”, because we won’t have the equipment to make it like they do. BUT, at least we could make it somewhat! If anyone can figure out how to do it, Plese Post It!
My family is desperate to find a Vienetta. We love them.
Does anyone know where I can get one. We live in the Salt Lake City, Utah area
Hello veinetta fans. As it is still produced in the UK, does anyone know of any import shops in the Los Angeles area that carry and stock this product? If there was anywhere in the US that would have it, it would be LA!!
I recently spent six months in Ireland for work. They have a department store there based in the UK called Tesco that carries Vienetta. Needless to say I ate a lot of it. I checked, but Tesco dosen’t export anything to the US. So I’m still looking for it here.
[…] Yup, that’s right. It was back. Well … sort of. And now it’s gone again. […]
Awesome this thread has been going for three and a half years .. .. i heart vienetta .. ..
I am currently expecting. Try craving something you just cant have! They need to bring it back so the poor husbands in the world dont have to deal with the complaining!
I’m also pregnant and finding out that I can’t have this awesome treat and what I crave is so not cool! But the princess gets it. Boo:p
You are making pregnant women angry!
All versions were disgusting, trashy and tasteless. If you think this is an elegant, rich and delicious dessert, then you must be from the midwest…or Bosnia.
amyjo9, you have no taste at all. So sad for you! Maybe you tasted the later version, the one with the fake ingredients. I never did. If so excuse me for judging you so harshly if this is in fact the sad case for you.
We want Vienneta back, Please!! The “original” Vienetta like they have in England. The original version was gone from the US by 1990.
As stated above, “The original 15-ounce version was made with yummy Breyers Ice Cream; The “new” 12-ounce version was a frozen dairy dessert, available until February 2009. That means instead of ice cream, this Viennetta consists of — nonfat milk, sugars, whey, cocoa, propylene glycol monoesters, cellulose gels, mono and diglycerides, locust bean gum, polysorbate 80, guar gum, natural flavor and carrageenan.”
You must have tasted that one.
Well, in my opinion that is the ONLY thing Bryers made that was good anyway. I just don’t like their Ice Cream, so maybe if everyone would just not buy Bryers unless they brought back Viennetta. LETS JUST BOYCOTT BRYERS. Blue Bell is so much better anyway! Maybe if we contact Bluebell they will make a Viennetta! Hey, there is an idea.
Any news on the Vienetta front since the last posting? :S
I miss my Viennetta!!!!! I live in Stockton, CA and used to crave one all the time !! I could get it anywhere! As time went on I had to start searching for it : / Eventually I had to go all the way to the other side of town for it ! But then, they stop carrying it too 🙁 My favorite ice till this day 🙂 where n when will I see it in my area again : /
Where is Viennetta ??? My son’s 25 birthday tomorrow and he is deploying on Friday, heLOVES this cake and I can’t find it anywhere. Please bring this back.
How about anywhere near Orlando – we had Viennetta icecream dessert every Christmas (and any other excuse for a party!!) while living in England and miss it so!
2013 and still no word about Vienetta??? Seriously people something needs to be done! I’m in California and still cannot believe that Vienetta is unobtainable! With everything wrong in this country of ours how can it be that we can’t have at least that? I mean c’mon give us at least that! Breyers, Unilever, I don’t care, whoever can bring back the original-recipe-Vienetta will make plenty of profit, GUARANTEED. IT’S 2013, BRING BACK THE ORIGINAL VIENETTA THIS YEAR!!! WE SHOULDN’T BE FORCED TO WAIT ANY LONGER! People unite for great causes and of course there are greater causes than ice cream but people also unite for less worthy causes and WE WHO WANT VIENETTA BACK SHOULD UNITE FOR THIS CAUSE TO BRING BACK THE ORIGINAL VIENETTA!!! Keep this thread going until we can all enjoy our Vienetta again bought from any local store!
-Alex in California about to have another birthday without Vienetta
Still looking for VIENNETTA in SF BAY AREA. I have LOOKED EVERYWHERE and still NOTHING!!! I AM DESPERATE!!
I even googled a recipe and it was not the real deal!!! I AM LOOKING FOR THE REAL DEAL!!
Sorry to share — but Breyers is no longer making the REAL DEAL.
for you southern california folks, Vienetta is available imported from
the UK at some smart and final locations. i found some in a santa monica location. good luck!
Still can’t find it here. The European formula for ice cream is so different than in the US. There it is very smooth and creamy. It makes our ice cream texture seem really gritty.
Bonnie that was cold 🙁
Kayoss, we are beyond envious on the East coast. Smart and Final location finder http://www.smartandfinal.com/locations/StoreLocations.asp 🙁
I am from Vancouver,Canada and years ago I remember eating the original Vienetta on a regular basis. I always thought the sudden disappearance must have been due to some sort of law-suit or something. These days I am studying Business & Logistics across the pond in Finland. Oddly enough I was studying for my Distribution Management Exam when I took a break and went to the local supermarket. There in the bottom of the ice cream section was a familiar name and package. It comes in 2 flavors and it turns out the price is really cheap ($2)so I knew the chances of it being a similar quality was very low. However, the taste was pretty close to what I remember. Instantly I started searching the web in hoped of understanding why they stopped carrying it in Canada& U.S, thus I arrived at this debate here. The Vienetta here in Finland, is made by Unilever under the Wall’s Heartbrand logo which is interesting considering that means its quality should be “Better for the Environment, Better for you”! I’m surprised by your claims that the quality is so different in North America compared to Europe. Maybe someone can be more specific? Like Eric Egland already pointed out from a business perspective, something doesn’t add up, why discontinue a successful product?. I thought maybe I should try and import it back to the Vancouver area. As for the ingredients containing all kinds of chemicals instead of real milk, Im sorry to say that is an industry trend which started (in Canada) about 5-10 years back. If you want natural ice cream look for small batch products, which are still around just hard to find.
Oh man, is there no way to bring the Vienetta back to North America? Can anyone tell me where I can find it close to Toronto? Even seasonally? It’s weird how desperate I am to get just one more taste! It’s been ages!
I always joke with my wife when she asks me if I want any thing from the grocers, I almost always tell her to pick up some Viennetta! I bought one of these (along with nearly every sugary cereal I ever longed for) right out of high school with my first paycheck. As the years went by, it became harder and harder to find… then finally they went away altogether.
A similar thing happened with my Twinkies, but OTHER manufacturers were more than happy to fill the void with their own product. If it costs too much to make these oversees and transport them over, I would gladly jump ship on brand loyalty and buy a competitor’s version.
Seems to me that if Unilever doesn’t want to make and sell the product to us, they should sell the rights and recipe to someone else that will.
Looks like there is a knock-off… I’m off to Whole Foods to pick up a Violeta!
Cen F You’re kidding. I was going to answer you yesterday and say that was a good idea! We don’t have Whole Foods around here. Who makes Violeta? Is it good?
Kayos found Vienetta imported from the UK at a store called Smart and Final in Southern California. Oh I am so jealous of you guys. We have a Fresh Market here. I have to call and ask them.
Please let us know the quality. It looks like manufacturers are wising up to the fact that this is a delectable treat! I hope so!
It looks good but it’s not the same 🙁 I has Hazelnut and chocolate
http://www.balticfood.us/dadu-ice-cream-violeta/
This is Vienetta
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=vienetta+ice+cream&ei=UTF-8&fr=moz35
Violeta is a Lithuanian knock-off of Vienetta its made by a company called Dadu, they are big in the Baltic region of Europe, they say its all natural so it could be good. If someone comes across it can you tell me if it tastes good? and if its worth the price you paid?