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Many people have heard of shrinkflation affecting the portion sizes of certain products. But now, it seems that the packaging of a few beloved products is slowly disappearing.
One woman is going viral for interrogating this loss of packaging as it relates to one of America's most beloved snacks: Hot Pockets.
‘That's the whole point'
Boston content creator Novia (@klksoynovia) shared a video of her examining something curious about the Hot Pocket she'd just bought. The video has since accumulated more than 1 million views.
“It's crazy,” Novia said, holding a Hot Pocket encased in plastic up to the camera.
She turned the Hot Pocket back and forth, indicating that there was nothing more to the wrapping. Novia showed there was just a thin, translucent layer of plastic.
“Why don't the Hot Pockets come with the pockets anymore?” Novia asked.
Hot Pockets were famous for their iconic microwavable sleeves, which were technically called “susceptors,” according to Mashed. While the susceptors looked like plain cardboard, the inside was “actually laminated with a metalized film” that turned “the microwave energy into radiant heat, which [enabled] the food to brown and turn crispy, instead of becoming a soggy, unappetizing lump of dough.”
Novia's Hot Pocket came with no susceptor. Without it, the content creator looked at a loss while gazing at the naked product in her hand.
“It's just… that's the whole point,” she said.
What happened to Hot Pockets' microwavable sleeves?
The official Hot Pockets TikTok account ended up leaving a comment under Novia's video. There, a representative explained the lack of sleeve.
“Hey there, the pocket is the bread that contains the melty goodness,” Hot Pockets wrote. “We ditched the sleeves in 2024 to cut back on a massive 3300 tons of paper waste per year. we'll let the team know you'd like to see them back!”
Hot Pockets also has an entire section on its website dedicated to the question of sleevelessness. The website states that the company made the call to produce less waste, leave room for more pepperoni, and ensure that preparing Hot Pockets requires fewer steps.
“After decades of perfecting Hot Pockets, we've achieved a breakthrough that allowed us to remove the sleeve, while delivering an even better tasting product,” the website says.
Mashed reports that when Nestle initially made the sleeve-ditching announcement in 2024, “a branded holiday sweater with zip-off sleeves was released in tandem (as an act of goodwill for the devastated customers, one might presume).”
Mashed also says that the announcement was met with significant backlash from Hot Pockets enthusiasts.
“Now that the sleeves are gone, many folks on social media are saying they don't want anything to do with them either,” Mashed adds.
@klksoynovia #hotpocket #foryou #fyp ♬ original sound – klksoynovia
What did viewers say?
While many of Novia's viewers in her comment section seemed fine with Hot Pockets sans sleeves, some were mourning the loss.
“My husband and I said the same thing,” one viewer commented. “They don't cook the same either because the sleeve had gray inside that helped cooked them.”
“When they first came out, it was so good,” another mourned. “The crust was chewy and they filled the center up like a calzone.”
“I thought the whole point was so you could hold the food vertical and like to-go,” a third viewer wrote. “Now you have to eat it on a plate or something.”
Buzz News has reached out to Nestle, which owns Hot Pockets, and Novia via email.
