Consumers USA TODAY spoke to said they can find the flakes but want the original Grape-Nuts, which the company explains in its history doesn t contain grapes or nuts but is made from wheat and barley.
Ana Sandoval, of Sacramento, California, started to wonder if the cereal was being phased out after searching for a box since December. She said she has been eating the cereal nearly every day for the last six years to help with her Mediterranean anemia.
“By eating Grape-Nuts, I can get most of my daily iron allotment without the nasty side effects of iron pills,” Sandoval told USA TODAY. “Unlike many people who consider Grape-Nuts to be another form of gravel, I like the crunch and the taste.”
A COVID-19-related shortage has Grape-Nuts faithful missing that familiar crunch of their favorite breakfast cereal.
For months, consumers have been searching for boxes of the more than 120-year-old cereal brand only to find empty shelves and out-of-stock notices. Some fans have turned to social media and Reddit to commiserate over their struggle to find the high-fiber cereal and question whether it was being discontinued.
The brand, which is owned by Post Holdings, confirmed the shortage on Wednesday but said there were “absolutely no plans to discontinue Grape-Nuts cereal.”
“People may continue to see shortages and temporary out-of-stocks on Grape-Nuts as we continue to work through supply constraints and higher cereal demand amid the pandemic,” Kristin DeRock, Grape-Nuts brand manager, said in a statement.