In the UK, Cheez Whiz is in, organic is out

Brits have turned their backs on wasabi paste and extra virgin olive oil, while “heritage brands” are seeing spikes in sales. Sales of Bird’s custard powder have risen 25 per cent; Asda’s fish fingers are up 18 per cent; and Bisto gravy is up 20 per cent. Even the “Arctic Roll” and “Wispa,” once kitschy jokes—“the edible equivalent of the lava lamp”—have been “called out of retirement and placed on active duty.” The country’s renewed passion for fish sticks is being blamed on the “desire to sink back into the loving certainties of a simpler time.”

The Guardian