A biscuit mystery has unfolded at Aldi Australia after a shopper noticed the supermarket was no longer stocking her favourite sweet snack.
‘I’m gutted as I suspect Aldi has discontinued my favourite biccies: European Spiced Speculaas,’ an Aussie woman shared in an online discussion forum, alongside a picture of the Belmont Biscuit Co. product.
She observed that she hadn’t seen her favourite biscuits on shelves for a couple of months. That is, until just last week when she spotted a new but slightly differently named and packaged product in the store’s biscuit aisle: Belmont Biscuit Co.’s Speculoos Biscuits 250g, $2.99.
‘I bought a pack of the Speculoos thinking it was just a change in packaging,’ she said. But after tasting them, she realised the Speculoos were ‘completely inferior’.
‘I was horrified by the sugary biscuit in place of the exquisite spice of the Speculaas,’ she added.
It was at this point that the woman did some research and realised that Speculaas and Speculoos are two completely different European biscuit varieties.
‘I now know that Speculaas are Dutch spiced biscuits and Speculoos are Belgian caramelised biscuits.’
The woman’s dismayed post concluded with her questioning if anyone had intel on whether her favourite European Spiced Speculaas had ‘actually been discontinued’. Daily Mail has confirmed that Belmont Biscuit Co. European Spiced Speculaas have been discontinued.
An Aldi Australia shopper feared her favourite Belmont Biscuit Co. European Spiced Speculaas Biscuits had been discontinued, having not seen them in store for months
However, when she recently saw a similarly named biscuit in a similarly looking packaging made by the same company, she mistakenly assumed it may be the same product. She’s since learnt that these Belmont Biscuit Co. Speculoos Biscuits 250g, $2.99 are an entirely different biscuit variety
A number of replies also confirmed it had been ‘discontinued’ and the product listing on Aldi’s website similarly shows the item as ‘currently not available’.
The latest post prompted many fellow biscuit connoisseurs to lament the popular spiced biscuit no longer being in store.
‘No, this is terrible. I wish I’d stocked up!’ read one reply.
‘Haven’t seen them either for a very long time so they must be discontinued,’ read another saddened reply.
‘We should let Aldi know they’re missed,’ chimed in a third.
But the woman who ignited the discussion was also not the only one to have been confused after spotting the similarly named Speculoos in store. Others too had presumed it was a new and improved version of Speculaas, given the similarity in name and packaging.
‘I used to love buying them but I didn’t know they changed the recipe. I’m p***ed off.’
‘The texture was different,’ agreed another person.
Several Aldi Australia shoppers agreed that they too had seen Belmont Biscuit Co.’s Speculoos Biscuits in the snack aisle – and thought they were an updated and newly packaged version of Belmont Biscuit Co.’s European Spiced Speculaas
The original poster to the Reddit thread gently explained that she had also made this mistake, and had now discovered they are entirely different biscuits altogether.
Speculaas (also known as spekulaas) are traditional Dutch, Belgian and German spiced shortcrust biscuits, renowned for their crisp texture, deep caramel flavour, and intricate, moulded designs.
They’re often enjoyed during the festive season and specifically on Saint Nicholas’ Day (December 6) – but are also beloved year-round with coffee or tea.
On the other hand, Speculoos are thin, crunchy, caramelised Belgian biscuits. They are better recognised by an alternate and widely used name, Biscoff.
In 2020, the Lotus biscuit brand controversially renamed its popular Speculoos biscuits to Biscoff – a name that was created by combining the words ‘biscuit’ and ‘coffee’.
The biscuit was rebranded with the new moniker in the hopes of making the sweet treat more accessible to international customers – and this strategy paid off with Lotus Biscoff now a well-known household name.
But another, less commonly cited reason for why Lotus chose to rename their Speculoos biscuits was also to avoid confusion with the similarly named European biscuit, Speculaas.
Meanwhile, the product listing on Aldi’s website also offers a clue that the two biscuit varieties made by Belmont Biscuit Co. are quite different – in spite of their similar names and packaging.
In 2020, Lotus renamed their signature Speculoos biscuits to Biscoff, which is a combination of the words ‘biscuit’ and ‘coffee’
On the one hand, the Spiced Speculaas Biscuits are described as ‘traditional European spiced cookies, perfect for a snack any time of the day’.
Then you have the brand’s Speculoos Biscuits, described online as ‘crunchy biscuits with a caramelised taste and a hint of cinnamon’.
Some replies to the recent Reddit post noted that other brands of Speculaas biscuits are occasionally stocked in major supermarkets – usually in the international foods section.
For example, the Coles website currently sells The Dutch Company Speculaas Spiced Cookies, with a 450g pack priced at $6.50.
