“We promised our loyal fans that we would work hard to get Grape-Nuts back on store shelves as quickly as possible, and we are now committing to an earlier-than-anticipated return date,” said Kristin DeRock, Grape-Nuts’ brand manager, who added that the company has ramped up production of the cereal.
“We were capacity constrained as we exited the year,” Kellogg CEO Steve Cahillane said on the company’s quarterly earnings call. “Nobody anticipated, obviously, the type of year that cereal would have.”
From 2015 to 2019, the US ready-to-eat cereal market dipped between 1% and 2% each year, according to data from Euromonitor International. By contrast, from 2019 to 2020 the market grew by nearly 20% to about $10.6 billion.
Grape-Nuts has been around since 1897, when it was developed by founder C.W. Post himself, according to the Grape-Nuts website. It’s made with wheat and barley (but no grapes or nuts). Post also makes Honey Bunches of Oats, Pebbles and Raisin Bran brands, among other cereals.
–CNN Business’ Danielle Wiener-Bronner contributed to this report.