Holst cut from sausage roll packets
It is the end of an era for sausage roll fans as ‘‘the ones with Alison Holst on them’’ no longer feature an endorsement from the muchloved chef.
After a packaging revamp, New Way sausage rolls now come in a cardboard tray encased in a single wrapper, rather than sheathed in layer upon layer of plastic.
While that is good news for the environment, the removal of Dame Alison Holst’s smiling face from the labels is proving harder to swallow.
In a post on Reddit, sausage roll fans welcomed the reduced packaging but lamented the loss of Holst’s endorsement.
‘‘Oh no I don’t think I’d recognise the brand without her on it. That’s sad. Good for the environment but I’ll miss Alison looking so proud of me ‘baking’,’’ one person wrote.
‘‘It feels wrong to not have Dame Allison [sic] on it,’’ another said.
The ‘‘grandmother of New Zealand home cooking’’ hung up her apron in 2015 after it was revealed she had been diagnosed with dementia.
Her son, Simon, said at the time the plan was for Holst to remain at home in Orewa with her husband, Peter Holst, for as long as possible. He has since confirmed his mother moved into fulltime care in 2018.
Until recently, the sausage rolls, made by Rotorua company
Richmond Foods and a staple at parties and office functions for decades, continued to carry Holst’s endorsement.
While the new packs retain the brand’s familiar cream and red colour scheme and retro font, it could be some time before shoppers adapt to calling them anything other than ‘‘the ones with Alison Holst on them’’.