DISAPPOINTED chip lovers have taken up a guerilla-style protest at a local Tesco’s after it cut their favourite frozen brand.
Post-it notes have been found left in the frozen aisle at a Tesco store in Forfar, Angus, asking “Where are Aunt Bessie’s chips?” after the store dropped them from their shelves.
The stern missives were found by another local shopper, who says she was also mourning the absence of Aunt Bessie’s chips from the store’s stock.
Paula McLaren, 34, snapped the protest notes on her phone, posting them to the Tesco Facebook page alongside her own note urging them to “Bring Back Aunt Bessie’s Chips!”
Paula, from Kirriemuir, Angus, found the notes stuck to bags of Tesco’s own-brand chips earlier this week.
Both read “Where are Aunt Bessie’s chips?”
Paula was quick to claim that the notes were not written by herself, despite her own passion for the brand.
She said: “Firstly, I must point out the Post-it notes weren’t mine – I would however like to find out who they do belong to.
“I was amused to find the Post-it notes whilst hoping to see some Aunt Bessie’s, but again I left Tesco chipless.
She went on to explain her own ordeal with the loss of the chip brand earlier this year.
“I first noticed that there were no Aunt Bessie’s chips a few months ago.
“At first I thought maybe it was a stock issue, but week after week I was left disappointed each time I reached the frozen aisle.
“We are big chip fans in our house so I did try each brand on offer at Tesco but none matched that of Aunt Bessie’s homestyle chips.
But unfortunately for Paula it seems as though the decision to drop the range from Tesco stock has been taken across all stores.
“I tend to do my weekly shop in the Forfar store since moving to Kirriemuir, but have also found that when doing a good shop in Tesco in Dundee there were no Aunt Bessie’s chips either”, she added.
“After seeing the Post-it notes I realised I was not the only Tesco customer to wonder where the Aunt Bessie’s had gone.”
Paula’s complaint on the Tesco Facebook page earned her a swift response from a Tesco spokeswoman, but no hope for the return of her favourite brand.
She said: “I am really sorry the Aunt Bessie’s Homestyle Chips are no longer available in our store.
“Our customer research data showed these items were not very popular and so the decision was made to remove them from our frozen potato ranges.
The spokeswoman urged her to try Tesco’s own brand of frozen chips, touting them as a “great substitute.”
On the Facebook complaint others were quick to chip in with their own favourites and suggestions in lieu of Aunt Bessie’s.
Linzi Houston weighed in: ” Highly recommend McCain beer battered myself!”
But Paula was inconsolable and said she was “beyond disappointed” by the decision of the supermarket.
