I think you kind of answered your own question, by stating that your cats went up to the food, sniffed it, and walked away. With cats it's mostly about smell (they have way better smell, and way worse sense of taste than we do), and they don't like what they smell. So game-over. Maybe it's a change to the food, maybe it's how the bowl smells, or maybe there are some other smells in the vicinity that are interfering. Who knows.
I don't think it's productive to dwell on the "why" of it too much though because your cats are going to (hopefully) be with you for many more years, and they will both go on and off different foods, plus other calamities will happen (manufacturer's discontinuing brands, retailers no longer carrying them, recalls, corporate mergers etc), so it really does pay to not only have a "plan b", but also "plan c, d, and e". Plus, in my experience, cats do get pickier and pickier about food as they get older. So to counter-act that I'm perpetually on the lookout for new foods to add to the rotation, once I know that they like something and tolerate it.
For wet food, try wet foods that aren't mashed into an unsightly "glob" of food (i.e., pate style). My cats each have very specific likes and dislikes as far as flavors and brands, but one commonality seems to be that they like food that is shredded or diced a lot better than formed into a pate (so in the US, brands like Weruva, Earthborn Holistic, Tiki Cat, Against The Grain, etc) as opposed to brands like Wellness, Blue Buffalo, and Royal Canin.
Your mileage will no doubt vary though. As soon as you think you've figured out cats, you can expect a curve ball to be thrown at your head.
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