Retail chain Hema has returned to the original makers of its iconic rookworst or smoked sausage following a thumbs down from customers for the new recipe because it “didn’t contain enough Hema”.

Hema introduced a new recipe for the sausage last year to comply with the Beter Leven label for improved animal welfare standards. That meant a switch from the factory in Oss, which had made the sausage for the last 80 years, to another producer.

“The other producer tried to make the sausage according to the old recipe and it was a tasty sausage. But we talked to customers and they said it lacked the bite and slightly sour touch of old. Some of our customers have been buying the sausage for decades,” a Hema spokesman told NU.nl.

Despite the return to the old recipe, the new old sausage, which has been available since Monday, retains its Beter Leven label.