Perhaps it is only appropriate that a pandemic that brought quick hoarding and shortages of toilet paper would eventually cause one of America’s best-known fiber-rich grains to disappear from store shelves.
Post Holdings confirms to CBS MoneyWatch that it is currently unable to keep up with the country’s increased appetite for its Grape-Nuts cereals. The St. Louis-based food company also offered assurances that it will not be pulling the plug on the 120-year-old brand, as some have speculated. social media amid cases of supermarket shelves with no box of grape nuts in sight. Grape-Nuts should be back on shelves in the spring, Post Holdings promised Friday.
“People can still see shortages and temporary sold-out stocks of Grape-Nuts as we continue to work on supply constraints and increased demand for grains amid the pandemic,” Kristin DeRock, Grape-Nuts brand manager, said in an email. CBS. MoneyWatch. “First and foremost, we want to make sure Grape-Nuts fans know we have absolutely no plans to discontinue Grape-Nuts cereals.”
With more Americans eating at home, their consumption of Grape-Nuts also increased, and making more of the crunchy, whole-grain wheat kernels is more complicated than you might think, according to the maker.
“Grape-Nuts is made using proprietary technology and a manufacturing process that cannot be easily replicated, making it more difficult to shift production to meet demand,” DeRock said in her email.
First introduced in 1897, the sudden lack of availability of Grape-Nuts caused a round of hand-wringing among its fans on social media and bewilderment among others that such a product exists.
The Grape-Nuts website helpfully states that Grape-Nuts “does not actually contain grapes or nuts.” The name may come from the grain’s resemblance to grape seeds, or from its nutty flavor and distinctive crunchiness, the site suggests. The main ingredient is whole grain wheat flour which provides a powerful seven grams of fiber per half-cup serving. No sugar or corn syrup to be found – only barley malt, salt and dried yeast fill the rest of the ingredients list on a box.
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