RIP Space Food Sticks

When I began my space research, it registered at the back of my mind that you could still buy Space Food Sticks in the supermarket. They are still popular camping food, my more outdoor-minded friends inform me. I took a bunch with me to Kourou to give to people. They taste pretty bland, not half chocolatey enough, and the packet has a BMX biker on the front! But I liked them as a relic of the space age.

Then I discovered that Australia is pretty much the only country that makes an Apollo-era spinoff in the space food stick line. White Wings are even importing them to the USA, although most distributors seem unaware that they are Australian in origin.

I badly wanted to put a space food stick in the conference "showbags" for my Woomera symposium on the 4th November. But do you know what? I couldn't find any! Not in the major supermarket chains, not in the smaller ones. Sometime between April and November this year this historic food item has vanished. Goodman Fielder (owner of the White Wings brand) tell me that SFS are now manufactured by Uncle Toby's at Wahgunyah, not a million miles from where I grew up. I will ring them and find out the story!